'Umno Youth unanimously agree not to invite other parties' - Dr Akmal

SHAH ALAM - The decision not to invite representatives of any parties to the Umno Youth Assembly in conjunction of Umno General Assembly (PAU) 2023 is a unanimous decision made by all exco members and state Umno Youth chiefs.

Its Youth Chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Salleh said it was agreed upon through votes.

"This is a space for us to clarify, express and correct doubts or questions among Youth members.

"We will solve issues between our siblings first before inviting external parties to come into our house," he said on a Facebook post today.

On Friday, Dr Akmal said that Umno Youth would not invite component parties that made up the Unity Government to the 2023 Umno Assembly for Youth wing, which would take place next week.

Dr Akmal implied that they wanted to 'correct' problems in their 'house' first before inviting any parties.

The general assembly would be held at Kuala Lumpur World Trade centre (WTC) from June 7 to June 10.

Meanwhile, Kapar division Umno Youth chief Affifi Aris said he, together with grassroots members welcomed Dr Akmal's statement that he wanted to resolve 'siblings' matter first.

He said grassroots members needed to explain the main reason for Umno to form a government together with Pakatan Harapan and other parties.

"Following the Yang di-Pertuan Agong decree is Umno's main responsibility as a party that supports and defends Malay institutions.

"However, establishing a government today does not mean party members agree to the new political direction to the point of cooperating in the election," he explained.

Therefore, he said party members must be given an explanation about the new narrative of the common cause for the Unity Government, which resulted to a new political alignment to face the state election.

He said during the state election in Melaka and Johor, Umno-Barisan Nasional chose to 'Go Solo' but the victory was still in favour of the coalition.

He said there were no Umno-BN candidates competing with parties in the Unity Government then.

"I hope Umno Youth chief leadership can successfully resolve the conflicts at the grassroots, especially among Umno members.

"We want a consensus in Youth leadership and not just sheep who follows decision with just a nod or a shake of their head," he said.