PAS counting on youths for GE14
Youth chief points to recent gathering turnout as indication of support
KOTA BARU: PAS says the huge turnout of young supporters at its Fastaqim 2.0 gathering was an indication that it could count on the young voters to change the country’s political landscape.
Its Youth chief Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi said the high turnout of young people to the two-day event held in Terengganu indicated their desire to see the Islamist party rising to ruling position.
“The number of youths that made up about 70% of Fastaqim participants reflect their desire to see the formation of a new Islamist-based government,” he said.
PAS believed that the event, aimed at boosting the spirit of the grasroots and supporters in the run-up to the 14th General Election, had attracted more than its targeted 200,000 participants.
Fastaqim 2.0 chairman Nasrudin Hassan noted that critics were having a field day commenting on minor setbacks to discredit the event.
“The positive outcome far outweighs the minor glitches.
“We are conducting a post-mortem to identify the weaknesses to help us overcome such glitches when organising such an event in the future,” he said.
Nasrudin said negative articles written about the gathering would not change the fact that the Islamist party enjoyed good ground support.
“The thousands of participants have taken a vow to help PAS win in the next general election.
“They are our election machinery. They will give 200% support for PAS’ struggle to uphold Islam,” he said.
Nasrudin said the machinery would not waste time responding to cheap politically-motivated attacks propagated by desperados.
“They will be focused on pushing for Muslim political power by ensuring PAS’ victory,” he said.
PAS vice-president Idris Ahmad reminded members not to be lulled into a false sense of achievement based on the large turnout.
“We have to continuously mobilise our machinery at all levels,” he said,
Idris added that the party hoped to see the moon rising in the upcoming general election.