TEMERLOH - Pas Youth has issued a stern warning to the government, threatening street protests if the people's right to speak out and express the truth continues to be suppressed.
Pas Youth Chief Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden stressed that this warning echoes the actions of Pakatan Harapan (PH) when they were the Opposition.
He also slammed the current government for its oppressive tactics and the erosion of freedom of speech.
"Back then, they were willing to sleep on the streets to speak out.
"Now, after being given power, they have become oppressive rulers, silencing the people, arresting victims, and exacting long-standing vendettas.
"To those in power, we want to tell you this, the more you try to silence us from speaking the truth, the stronger our spirit to rise and fight against injustice becomes.
"We will not stand by and watch this beloved country be exploited by your perverse and corrupt desires.
"We are willing to die fighting for the truth until victory is ours. Do not think that your power will last forever," he said during his keynote speech at the 65th Pas Youth Muktamar on Thursday.
Afnan, who is also the Alor Setar MP, claimed that the current government is suppressing freedom of speech and enforcing severe and excessive actions.
He pointed to Malaysia's decline by 34 places in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index as evidence of the government’s iron-fisted approach.
"This indicated that media freedom and freedom of expression in Malaysia are being increasingly restricted.
"The Madani government is becoming more authoritarian, despite once being the champions of media freedom and human rights, fighting for the right to speak out, and even taking to the streets, rolling around and sleeping on the streets in the name of justice.
"We know this because some of us here today once stood alongside them in the streets, enduring tear gas, soaked and stung by water cannons.
"It turns out that those who once slept on the streets to speak out have now become the very oppressive rulers silencing the people," he added.