TEMERLOH - Pas needs to lead and become the government in the 16th General Election (GE16) because majority of youths need the party to defend them.
Pas Youth chief Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden said young people have high hopes for Pas and Perikatan Nasional (PN) as demonstrated in GE15, where a large number of votes were cast for the party.
He highlighted data from GE15, which recorded 10,998,944 young voters aged 18 to 40, comprising 51.95 per cent of the total voters.
He said the data from the Pas central election department showed that PN received 44 per cent of the young voters' votes across all states (except Sabah and Sarawak).
In comparison, Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH), which were not yet in the coalition at that time, garnered 22 per cent and 33 per cent of votes, respectively. These were the results of GE15 in 2022.
"During the 2023 state elections, after PH and BN joined forces, the support of young people for PN, particularly in six states - Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Penang was found to have increased," he said.
He made said this during his keynote speech at the wing's 65th Muktamar at Al-Makmur Complex in Kerdau on Thursday.
Afnan added that based on simple calculations, more than half of young voters aged 18 to 40 cast their votes for Pas through PN, suggesting that a significant portion might be non-partisan voters.
The Alor Setar MP said young people placed their trust in Pas because they believed in the party's ability to lead them.
"They trusted Pas after recognising the virtues and sincerity of its members.
"That's the same way our wives fell in love with us once upon a time. They agreed to marry us, to be our life partners, to share every joy and sorrow and even to bear and give birth to our children.
"All because they trusted us. That's the value of a wife's trust in her husband. So, cherish that trust," he added.
He also emphasised that young people should aspire to become scholars, as this was a key quality of leadership.
He said Pas Youth should encourage young men who enjoy reading, analysing, writing articles, creating content and attending knowledge-sharing sessions.
Afnan pointed to the example set by Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang.
"Although his body is aging, his sharp intellect and fighting spirit surpass those of us who are still young and physically strong.
"This shows that physical or external strength is also crucial in building leadership, and this external factor directly relates to a leader's courage in speaking the truth and upholding justice," he said.