The topic of youth candidates in the 14th general election (GE14) dominated discussions at the second Amanah National Convention in Alor Setar today.
This followed a motion by its Youth wing, requesting for 30 percent of seats contested by the party in the GE14, which was later debated and rejected.
Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, who noted that the youths had shown maturity in debating the motion and accepting the rejection, also challenged them to prove their ability to rally their supporters.
"I feel touched when we talk about young and old, because I started (contesting) at age 27 against Abdullah Badawi, the second time at age 32 against Anwar Ibrahim... I lost both times.
"But after we (PAS Youth) showed our commitment... (the late) Nik Aziz (Nik Mat) decided that I should contest in Kelantan and so at the age of 35 I won and entered Parliament," Mohamad said in his winding-up speech.
Mohamad had contested and won in the now abolished Nilam Puri parliamentary seat in 1990 as a PAS Youth member and he was later elected to lead the wing as its chief.
In encouraging the Amanah Youth wing, Mohamad said starting young was no guarantee of becoming a great leader, pointing out how Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was first appointed as Pahang Menteri Besar at the age of 22.
"But now look at what he (Najib) has become...?
"On the other hand, Nik Aziz became MB at the age of 64, Donald Trump became president at 70 and Nelson Mandela was over 70-years-old when he became president.
"So, there will both young and old (Amanah candidates), it must be based on merits," Mohamad, popularly known as Mat Sabu, stressed.
An Amanah branch leader from Sik, Sulaiman Ibrahim (photo), earlier objected to the motion tabled by Penang Amanah Youth chief Mohd Saifullah Abdul Nasir.
While crediting the wing's national leaders, Sulaiman, who is a Youth wing member, noted that Amanah Youth still has a lot to prove at the grassroots level before the wing could demand to contest in 30 percent of the seats.
"The youths have to show that they are working. I can see the youths are working, but only at the top level.
"On the ground, only a small percentage of youths are supporting us," said Sulaiman, or also known as Leman Raja Lawak.
In supporting the objection, Penang delegate Zahar Zainul (photo) said there are now only 58 Amanah Youth wings from a total of 155 divisions of the party, but not a single Amanah Youth wing at the 628 branches nationwide.
He also compared the Youth quota demand to the quota policy introduced in the New Economic Model to help bumiputeras, who were seen as being left behind if compared with the other races.
"So, when Amanah Youth is asking for a quota and looking at the statistics, my summary is that Amanah Youth is weak and left behind.
"Whereas that is not the real spirit of the youths," Zahar said.
Other Amanah Youth leaders who touched on the issue included Federal Territories Youth chief Nik Abdul Razak Nik Mohamad, who supported the motion but suggested amendments to include merit-based considerations in the 30 percent quota.
A total of 898 delegates attended the two-day convention which ended today.- Mkini
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