PAS must take the lead in its alliances, urges delegate

PAS MUKTAMAR | A delegate at the 60th PAS Youth muktamar today stressed that the party must be a leader in its alliances that were forged in the name of Malay-Muslim unity.

Kedah PAS Youth delegate Nasrun Othman said PAS should learn lessons from the party's past alliances and now move to take the lead of its partners including Umno and other BN component parties.

Debating in support of PAS Youth chief Khalil Abdul Hadi's call for cooperation that extends beyond politics, Nasrun said the move to lead is necessary in order to achieve the party's goals.

“Kedah supports that unity of the people will be beneficial, on condition that PAS must lead, must be on top.

“This is to ensure that the constitution, al-Quran and Sunnah (teachings of Prophet Muhammad SAW) will be defended,” he said, adding that Islam must be the basis for a PAS-Umno cooperation.

He also reminded delegates of how past failures to ensure PAS allies understood its struggle had led to their downfall.

“Our struggle is clear: To defend Islam. It is not only to defend the Malay race, the Malay language, or the King, but the most important to defend Islam,” he stressed.

'PAS veterans must be convinced'

In the process of forging a new relationship with Umno, Nasrun noted how there remains a segment of veteran PAS members who remained hesitant due to previous failed attempts for the two parties to cooperate.

“I would like to state how aside from our efforts to give understanding to friends in Umno, we must also make our veterans understand.

“They are still scarred from what happened before, and because they don't understand (about the new cooperation) we must make them understand,” he said.

The PAS Youth chief’s policy speech yesterday among others outlined a need for the party to go beyond pursuing political cooperation and look at opportunities to strengthen control over socio-economic activities.

PAS contested against Harapan and BN in the last general election together with its Gagasan Sejahtera allies.

Since then, the party has forged a close cooperation with BN in the name of Malay-Muslim unity. - Mkini