‘Tighten screening for new entrants’
Armada reaches consensus, especially for former Umno members
PUTRAJAYA: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Youth wants tighter screening of those entering the party, especially former Umno members.
This was the consensus of the Bersatu Youth Wing (Armada), reached by about 600 delegates, during its first annual general meeting held here yesterday.
Armada chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said the wing wanted a special screening committee chaired by Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, with representatives from all wings to be set up.
In the past few weeks, many former Umno leaders and members applied to join Bersatu, sparking fears the party is turning into Umno 2.0.
The wing, he said, also wanted the “one member, one vote” system.
But, he added, details of the system would be left to the party’s Supreme Council to work out.
Earlier, Syed Saddiq praised youth delegates for raising core issues affecting the lower income group.
He said these were among the issues debated by the delegates behind closed doors yesterday.
“There was a Khazanah Research Institute report which showed the main reason of unemployment among Malays is the lack of soft skills such as confidence and mastery of English.”
The Kelantan delegate brought up the need to bring back the Teaching Of Science and Maths in English but also working in tandem with the Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka.
“The delegates were not merely shouting ‘Hidup Melayu!’ but were more focused on bread-and-butter issues affecting the B40 (lower income group) and the need for greater assistance to this group.
Issues such as PTPTN (higher education loans) were also discussed,” said Syed Saddiq.
Empowering women to enable them to contribute to the country’s economy domina- ted debates at the Bersatu Women (Srikandi) meeting, said its chief Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun.
“We touched on many issues relating to education and the economy, and the role women play in spurring economic growth of the country, especially in areas of business,” she said at a press conference after the party’s wings debates yesterday.
She said delegates spoke of having more specific programmes for women.
“Women should not just be seen as micro-entrepreneurs, but to go beyond that and become global (entrepreneurs),” she said.
She said she was happy with the delegates’ debates, which took place for the first time for the wing, considering that most of the Srikandi delegates had no prior experience in politics.
The three-day AGM attended by 2,000 delegates and observers from nationwide will end today.