PETALING JAYA: PAS central committee member Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim has conveyed some words of encouragement to Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Akmal Saleh in support of the efforts to strengthen Malay unity between Umno and PAS.
"Akmal, when we move forward, we progress. We cannot look back. Allah’s tests are great.
"Accept them with patience. God-willing, we will succeed," he said in a social media post on Wednesday (Jan 7).
Earlier, Dr Akmal hinted that it may be time for him to step aside, after having done his best to voice the concerns of the grassroots.
On Tuesday (Jan 6), Dr Akmal expressed his appreciation to Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for his willingness to review several motions raised at the recent special Umno Youth Convention last Saturday (Jan 3).
The Merlimau state assemblyman said the party could begin by examining an appropriate form of cooperation in the interest of Malay unity, describing this as the right time to initiate such efforts.
“Thank you, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, for agreeing to several motions from the recent special Umno Youth Convention.
“First, efforts towards Malay unity should begin with cooperation between the two largest Malay-based parties, Umno and PAS. Second, to reject any proposal to engineer a so-called ‘tebuk atap’ (backdoor) government,” the Umno Youth chief said.
Ilham Centre, an independent research firm, has dissociated itself from the findings presented by one of its researchers during last Saturday’s special Umno Youth convention. The study allegedly found that among the 800 Umno respondents, 62% cannot accept the working relationship between Umno and DAP in the government.
