PAS Youth shoots down Bersih 4.0 before GE13

(Malaysiakini) - In a near unanimous decision, delegates at the PAS Youth Muktamar in Kota Bharu today rejected a motion for a Bersih 4.0 protest before the next general election.
Delegates who spoke against the mooted protest when debating the motion, argued that party resources should be channeled towards facing looming polls rather than organising a mega protest.

"Even Umno has started going into the rural villages and handing out goodies... if we go ahead with this, people would say all we are capable of is going to the streets.

"There is not much time (left to prepare for the general election) and we will also be organising our own Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat (People's Uprising Rally) in every state... let's us focus on capturing Putrajaya," said Alor Setar PAS Youth chief Mohd Azam Awang.

The rebuttal came after a passionate plea from Pekan PAS Youth Chief Fadhil Mohd Noor for delegates to back the proposed protest.

"Every time we have a rally, it delays the prime minister's decision to hold the general election.

"But it is not our intent to frighten anyone but to continue our struggle for a clean general election," he said.

However, Pengerang PAS representative Sheikh Umar Ali pointed out in the debates that Pakatan Rakyat will be organising a Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat rally in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 13 next year as a climax, thus the Bersih 4.0 protest would be redundant.

The motion was one of four that was debated at the wing's Muktamar today.

‘MCA has insulted Islam'
The other three were on MCA president Chua Soi Lek continuous attacks on hudud law, Automated Enforcement System (AES) and revamping party organ Harakah's editorial team.

On MCA, the delegates backed the motion which said that MCA's and Chua's attacks had insulted Islam and demanded an apology from him.

PAS Youth secretary Khairul Faizi Ahmad Kamil who tabled the motion said among the statements that had hurt the feeling of Muslims, was MCA Wanita vice-chief Heng Seai Kie's accusation that PAS allowed non-Muslim women who did not cover themselves to be raped.

He also voice dissatisfaction with MCA's assertion that 1.2 million jobs would be lose if hudud law was implemented and that eight of 11 countries that implemented hudud law are corrupt.

In the motion, PAS Youth also challenge Chua to a debate on the matter and hit out at BN for using religion for political benefit.
Pas Youth chief declares assets
In another development, PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan surprised delegates by publicly declaring his asset before them during the closing of the Muktamar.
His income and assets are as follow:
Income: RM2,500 per month allowance from PAS Youth
Rental income: RM300 per month
Housing loan: RM530 per month
Car loan: RM1,400 per month
Spouse's income: RM4,000 per month
Spouse's housing loan: RM1,200 per month
Assets: A house worth RM130,000 (2004); Pajero Sports (2011); and Hyundai Trajet (2007); RM9,000 in savings.
"And those are my assets. I hope the PAS Youth exco can follow suit in declaring their assets," he said.
Nasrudin said all exco members in PAS Youth must fill a form to declare their assets and this would be for party consumption.
However, he added that if any of them were to contest in the next general election, this information would be made public online.