Young Umno's serious rival to attract young voters - Khairy

'Masya-Allah... I really can't believe this PAS'

An Umno leader claimed that discussions to determine the direction of Muafakat Nasional (MN) in Kelantan were originally initiated by PAS.

According to Johor Umno Deputy Chairman, Nur Jazlan Mohamed, it is believed to be done because PAS is worried about losing their stronghold in the next general election (GE).

In fact, Nur Jazlan claimed that the party's cooperation in MN all this time was only aimed at strengthening PAS's position, not with Umno.

"PAS wants to discuss with (Umno) Kelantan because they have started to be afraid and the action is only to defend the home ground (stronghold).

"All this time, MN has been trying to avoid (PAS) clashing with Umno and they are worried about losing in their own stronghold," he told Malaysiakini .

Nur Jazlan said this when asked to comment on the future and status of MN, especially in Kelantan. Apart from the state of Cik Siti Wan Kembang, the position of PAS-Umno cooperation is also seen as not strong in Terengganu.

Earlier, PAS Kelantan confirmed that they received an invitation letter from the state Umno to discuss the direction of their cooperation, especially when the 15th GE is approaching.

Just to strengthen PAS

Today, PAS Kelantan was reported to have said that they will meet with Umno on Jan 22.

Nur Jazlan claimed that Kelantan Umno had never sent a letter requesting a meeting to be held, instead the move was initiated by PAS.

"PAS who asked Umno Kelantan to negotiate is not Umno Kelantan.

"We don't want to, but he is the one who started this thing and indeed PAS does not agree (Umno rejects cooperation).

"PAS should discuss at the central level but after the defeats in Melaka and Sarawak, they are also worried if they lose in their strongholds such as Kelantan," he said.

According to Nur Jazlan, the discussion was also more about looking at the interests of PAS, and not Umno.

"The discussions are only to strengthen PAS's position for the next election.

"The president (Umno) has made a statement that PAS is not honest. So, at the central level, the suggestion for cooperation through MN does not exist because PAS said, if he wants to continue MN he wants to be with Bersatu as well, and Umno has decided to will not be with Bersatu, "he said.

Nur Jazlan added that based on the statements made by the leaders of both parties, it can be considered that MN has actually failed.

Nur Jazlan added that the actions of PAS in contesting in the recent Sarawak state election (PRN) also clearly showed that the party could not be trusted.

"Masya-Allah, I really can't believe it," he said repeatedly.

Don't accept Israeli athletes, Malaysia may lose the right to host

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has warned Malaysia may lose the right to host sporting events in the future if it continues to block athletes from entering the country on the basis of citizenship.

According to Malaysian Olympic Council (OCM) Secretary-General Mohammad Nazifuddin Najib, the IOC gave such a hint in a recent meeting with OCM in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as reported by The Vibes.

"We are still waiting for official information from the IOC on this matter, but we discussed it during a meeting with the IOC recently in Dubai.

“They asked us to discuss with the government and come up with a solution or face the risk of not organizing any event.

“We have written a letter to the Ministry of Youth and Sports to bring this issue to Parliament as it is a serious matter and needs a pragmatic solution. We hope the ministry will show the way, ”Nazifuddin was quoted as saying.

This is after Malaysia, which hosts the World Team Squash Championship, did not grant visas to Israeli athletes.

The World Squash Federation (WSF) later canceled the tournament, citing visa issues and the Omicron Covid-19 variant as reasons.

The tournament is supposed to take place in Kuala Lumpur from Dec 7 to Dec 12.

Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with Israel due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In 2019, Malaysia was also deprived of the right to host the 2019 World Swimming Championships after not allowing participation from Israel.

The issue will be brought to the cabinet

Apart from Nazifuddin, OCM President Mohamad Norza Zakaria in a press conference on Dec 29, also called for an immediate solution from the government, saying the international sports audience was actually "waiting for Malaysia's response" on the matter.

Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu was reported by The Vibes as saying that it would bring the issue to the next cabinet discussion, without saying when. He said his ministry would also express its views on the matter.

Amaran IOC

Earlier this month, Israeli news portal The Jerusalem Post said it received a letter from the IOC urging international sports federations to ensure athletes from all countries can compete and be treated equally without any political discrimination.

The letter said IOC sports director Kit McConnell and Olympic Solidarity director James Macleod wanted the sports federation to get a "written guarantee" from their respective governments and ensure the guarantee is met.

It reportedly cited Malaysia's decision to block the entry of Israeli athletes to the World Team Squash Championships and Serbia's move to prevent Kosovo teams from competing in the AIBA World Boxing Championships as examples.

The IOC reportedly said it wanted to work with both countries to reach a long-term solution.

“Failure (to achieve it) will result in such countries being deprived of the right to host international sporting events until the necessary guarantees are obtained and respected”.

The said letter, however, could not be found on the IOC website at the time of broadcast.

'Not a head of water in a Windy Cascade'

The phenomenon of large water in the area of ​​Lata Berangin waterfall, Kuala Krai, Kelantan, is common when the area receives heavy rain.

Kuala Krai District Police Chief, Deputy Superintendent Suzaimi Mohamed said the infectious video showing the incident was actually not a water head phenomenon as described by netizens.

“The area is a waterfall area, when receiving high rainfall the water will overflow with more than normal conditions.

"It is not a water head phenomenon," he said when contacted by Malaysiakini, today.

Earlier a contagious video was posted on social media featuring water conditions deemed ‘scary’.

Meanwhile, Suzaimi said the public was advised not to cause upset to the public but instead refer to the authorities.

Asked about the flood situation in the district, he said the police in collaboration with other government agencies were constantly monitoring the current situation.

"When the heavy rain warning was issued by the Malaysian Meteorological Department, the police together with the agencies were ready to take appropriate measures," he said.

Young Umno's serious rival to attract young voters - Khairy

Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin sees the Ikatan Demokratik Malaysia (Muda) party, which recently got permission from the High Court to be registered as a political party, as a serious competitor in attracting young voters.

The former Umno youth chief said so based on his personal experience, considering that in the last general election (GE), he said, young voters did not support BN and Umno due to current issues at the time.

"We want to prevent this from happening a second time (in GE15)," he said in an interview program 'Dilema Covid & Politik' which was broadcast live yesterday.

“This 18th vote is a very serious phenomenon and needs to be taken seriously with Umno, especially the young wings: Youth, Puteri and so on.

“Now there is a party set up specifically for newly registered young people, Parti Muda, this will give us serious competition among (voters) 18 to 30 years old.

"We conclude there, the Youth and Puteri will definitely (have to) accompany them, look for icons to be promoted as potential candidates," said Khairy.

Vote18 refers to a decrease in the voting age from 21 to 18 years.

Muda was founded by Muar Member of Parliament Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who was the former youth and sports minister in the Pakatan Harapan administration for 22 months.

After being removed from Bersatu in May 2020, Syed Saddiq set up Muda four months later.

“I see we must be serious in that direction. In the past, we asked for many young candidates, but we didn't get what we expected.

I see that may be our weakness (in Umno), not enough young icons. We have (Paya Besar MP) Mohd Shahar Abdullah and (Umno information chief) Shahril Hamdan. We have that, all I remember, "he said again.

"I see positive developments in the (state election) Melaka… young candidates are highlighted and they have received strong support from the people," he said.

He then referred to Muhamad Akmal Saleh, 33, who won the three -cornered fight in Merlimau with a majority of 3,248 votes.

He added that Umno should feature more young politicians in the next GE.