UMNO Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh has broken rank with ally Pakatan Harapan (PH) by leading a delegation of 25 leaders of the party’s wing to the 67th PAS Youth Muktamar (general assembly) in Kota Bharu which marks a high-profile return of official inter-party wing engagement.
UMNO leaders previously attended the annual PAS muktamar held in Pahang in 2019 at the height of the UMNO-PAS Muafakat Nasional political cooperation.
The self-proclaimed staunch defender of race and region reiterated his stance of not defending his Merlimau state seat the upcoming Melaka state election should BN and PH decides to reconcile despite both ruling partners being in murky waters in the aftermath of the recent Johor and Negeri Sembilan state polls.
“My stance from then, now and forever is that I’ll not cooperate with PH. If BN and PH cooperate, I myself will not contest as a candidate,” he told a media conference yesterday (Sept 3).
“For me, when we fight for something, we must have principles. I’ll not compromise my principles for the sake of a position. My stance is not merely that of a state assemblyman but also that of the UMNO Youth chief.”
The follows UMNO’s stance of not ‘immediately pursuing’ the ummah unity conquest but to honour the unity government tie-up until the end of the current parliamentary term.
Akmal’s presence might have stolen the limelight but the darndest oratory belongs to PAS Kedah Youth chief Ilyas Ahmad who introduced a new perspective to the “tunggang agama” (literally, “riding on religion”) label which has become so synonymous with PAS.
For context, political opponents, namely DAP and Amanah often accused PAS as a “religion riding party” despite PH’s own failure to defend the interests of the Malays and sanctity of Islam in the first place.
“DAP sees us as Taliban who rides on religion. I want to ask DAP and Amanah, if we Muslims don’t ride on religion, what else can we ride on? Petai (stink bean)? Kepala bapak (literally, one’s own father’s head)?” the Bahasa Malaysia version of Malaysiakini cited Ilyas as asking amid laughter from the audience.
“Henceforth, PAS will continue to ride on religion in our struggle to uphold Islam in Malaysia.”
Recall that PAS had previously condemned Amanah lawmaker Mohd Sany Hamzan after the Hulu Langat MP sarcastically claimed that Malay-Muslims were key perpetrators behind the embezzlement of public funds.
On that note, Ilyas has challenged Selangor PAS Youth to “remove” Sany from Dewan Rakyat n the next election.
In a recent Facebook post, Ilyas elaborated on his supposedly PAS version of “tunggang agama”:
Where is our dignity as Malay Muslims? Malay Muslims are being badly humiliated. So, Islam is the solution.
The term “riding on religion” as some quarters call carries a negative connotation and is misunderstood from the true context of the phrase.
The “riding” we use in our argument should be leveraging Islam as a path of struggle. As the Prophet SAW said: “I have left for you two matters that you will never go astray as long as you hold on to them, the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet.
If we don’t use our religion, how’re we going to fight? By following the western model? Why do we need to separate religion from politics?
Politics can become dirty when separated from religion. But if religion guides politics, then clean politics will emerge, just as how the PAS leadership has been clean of wrongdoing up until now. – Sept 4, 2026
