Umno Youth won't join PAS' anti-URA rally unless govt rejects feedback

Summary

• Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh says it is better to engage with different political parties on the Urban Renewal Act to discuss possible solutions.

• He urges PAS and Umno to sit down together and listen to each other’s ideas.

Umno Youth has announced that it will not participate in PAS’ anti-Urban Renewal Act (URA) rally scheduled for Oct 4 unless the government rejects its suggestions on the matter.

Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh said that although his party took a similar stance to PAS in opposing the bill, he nevertheless suggested that it would be better to engage with different political parties on the matter.

“I am not against the rally, but perhaps before protesting, it might be better for us to have a roundtable discussion so we can discuss the relevant solutions.

“We should sit down together where PAS and Umno can listen to each other’s ideas, and then we can suggest these ideas to the government.

“But if the government rejects our suggestions, then I will give my full commitment that we will participate in rejecting the URA, because we only want the best for the rakyat,” he said in a video published on Facebook last night.

He pointed out that BN is holding such a roundtable at a convention today addressing urbanisation, the URA, and its relation to the “survival of urban Malays.”

Akmal also highlighted an Umno committee formed earlier this month to discuss the bill, with Umno vice-president Johari Abdul Ghani appointed committee chairperson.

On Sept 3, Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki also said that the committee will thoroughly refine all aspects of the bill before tabling it at today’s Urban Malay Convention.

Official invite

Yesterday, PAS Youth announced that it will send an official invitation to Umno to join the Islamist party’s Oct 4 rally.

The group explained that the rally is meant to pressure the government into withdrawing the bill, and that they have extended the invitation to Umno Youth due to the party’s mutual opposition against the bill.

The proposed Act is meant to facilitate government redevelopment in areas that are several decades old.

Key aspects of the bill include the consent threshold for urban redevelopment to proceed, as well as the compensation given to the residents involved.

On Aug 21, Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming tabled the bill for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat.

The opposition has expressed vehement disagreement with the bill, claiming that it has an ulterior motive behind its introduction.

On Aug 28, Nga announced several amendments, particularly on provisions regarding demographic composition and the threshold of consent from property owners.

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