PAS Youth’s urban renewal rally just a political gimmick, says Umno leader

PAS Youth’s urban renewal rally just a political gimmick, says Umno leader

Puad Zarkashi says the Islamic party is only looking for reasons to protest after the failure of its 'Turun Anwar' rally.

Puad Zarkashi
Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said PAS should stop street protests and hold policy dialogues instead, citing Kampung Sungai Baru as a key issue tied to the Urban Renewal Bill.
PETALING JAYA:
Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi has rubbished PAS’s plan to rally on Oct 4 against the Urban Renewal Bill, calling it “political gimmickry” and accusing the party of scrambling for reasons to protest after its “Turun Anwar” rally failed to achieve its objectives.

Puad said the move to press for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s resignation fizzled out as Bersatu grassroots had instead pushed for their own president, Muhyiddin Yassin, to step down.

He added that PAS indirectly supported this by backing Abdul Hadi Awang’s call for a prime minister candidate who is under 70 years old.

“Indirectly, PAS was pushing for Muhyiddin to step down and be replaced by Hamzah Zainudin,” he said in a Facebook post today.

Bersatu had endorsed Muhyiddin, 78, as its nominee for prime minister in the next general election, although his deputy and opposition leader Hamzah, 68, has long been floated as an alternative.

Puad also urged PAS to stop staging demonstrations and instead prove itself as a party prepared to govern by holding dialogues on substantive issues, such as the Kampung Sungai Baru land acquisition, which is linked to the Urban Renewal Bill.

He contrasted PAS’s approach with that of Barisan Nasional (BN), noting that BN had held a forum last night to present counter-proposals on the bill.

“Invite Annuar Musa and Shahidan Kassim, who are now in PAS’s central committee,” he said.

“The Kampung Sungai Baru land acquisition happened when Annuar was the federal territories minister. Shahidan then continued the process.”

For balance, he said that Amanah’s Khalid Samad, another former federal territories minister, and Titiwangsa MP Johari Ghani, whose constituency includes Kampung Sungai Baru, should also be part of the discussion.

The rally next weekend is not the first attempt by PAS Youth to stage a protest against the Urban Renewal Bill.

In February, the wing announced plans to hold a rally, but by June, it had been rebranded as the “Turun Anwar” demonstration on July 26.

The change was mocked by a Sabah PKR leader who accused PAS Youth of shifting the goalpost due to the lukewarm response it received to the planned anti-Urban Renewal Act rally.

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