Dr Akmal saran Umno-PAS di PRN Melaka

KETUA Pemuda Umno Datuk Dr Akmal Saleh menyeru partinya dan PAS membentuk pakatan bagi PRN Melaka, menyatakan perpecahan politik Melayu melemahkan pengaruh mereka walaupun di kawasan majoriti penduduknya terdiri orang Melayu.

Adun Merlimau berkata, pilihan raya Melaka sepatutnya menjadi kes ujian bagi kerjasama politik antara dua parti Melayu-Muslim terbesar itu, menyebut bahawa Pemuda Umno secara konsisten memperjuangkan perpaduan sejak awal lagi.

“Saya lebih suka Umno-PAS, walaupun PAS tidak menang sebarang kerusi pada PRN Melaka lalu.

“Jika kita mahukan perpaduan Melayu, kita kena mula sekarang. Kita tak boleh hanya bercakap. Kita mesti buktikan di Melaka, walaupun Umno perlu beri laluan kepada PAS (di beberapa kerusi),” katanya dalam episod terbaru audio siar Keluar Sekejap.

Hos, Khairy Jamaluddin, sebelum itu bertanya kepada Akmal sama ada beliau lebih suka Umno bertanding solo atau berganding bahu dengan parti politik lain pada PRN akan datang.

Akmal berkata, pengundi teras Melayu, terutama di kawasan luar bandar dan separa bandar, bimbang tentang perpecahan dalam komuniti itu kerana kehadiran pelbagai parti Melayu.

Beliau berkata, Umno hanya boleh memulihkan kekuatannya dengan menjalin semula hubungan dengan pengundi teras Melayu-Bumiputeranya, sambil menyebut undi yang hilang daripada Umno bukan pergi kepada Pakatan Harapan, sebaliknya kepada PAS dan Perikatan Nasional.

Menjawab soalan Khairy sama ada orang Melayu berasa terancam, Akmal berkata sentimen sedemikian lebih ketara di luar pusat bandar.

“Mungkin orang di Kuala Lumpur tak rasa. Anda boleh datang ke Melaka dan lihat sendiri, pergi ke kampung-kampung,” katanya.

 

Akmal suggests Umno-PAS in Melaka election

UMNO Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh has called for Umno and PAS to form an alliance for the Melaka state election, saying the Malay political split has weakened their influence even in areas where the community forms the majority.

Akmal, the Merlimau assemblyman, said the Melaka election should serve as a test case for political cooperation between the two largest Malay-Muslim parties, noting that Umno Youth had consistently pushed for unity from day one.

“I would rather it be Umno-PAS, even though PAS had won no seats in the last Melaka election,” he said in the latest episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast, yesterday.

“If we want Malay unity, we have to start now. We cannot just talk. We must prove it in Melaka, even if Umno has to make way for PAS (in some seats).”

Khairy Jamaluddin, who hosted the podcast, had asked Akmal if he would prefer Umno to contest alone or in partnership with another political party in the next state election.

Akmal said core Malay voters, especially those in the rural and semi-rural areas, are concerned about divisions in the community because of the presence of multiple Malay parties.

He said Umno could only regain strength by reconnecting with its core Malay-Bumiputera base, noting that votes lost by Umno were not going to Pakatan Harapan but to PAS and Perikatan Nasional.

Responding to Khairy’s question on whether Malays felt threatened, Akmal said such sentiments were more apparent outside urban centres.

“Maybe people in Kuala Lumpur don’t feel it. You can come to Melaka and see for yourselves, go to the villages,” he said.

He said calls for unity were “not about taking away the rights of others”, but about ensuring Malays “feel safe and united”.

Akmal also rejected concerns that an Umno-PAS alliance would sideline non-Malays, saying the broader Barisan Nasional framework would remain intact.

In the 2021 Melaka state election, BN won 21 of the 28 seats up for grabs, with PH winning five and PN (Bersatu) taking two. However, Umno’s Rembia assemblyman, Jailani Khamis, moved to the opposition block after he was reported to have joined PAS in 2023.

The five-year term of the state legislative assembly will end in December.

 

 

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