COMMENT | Is PAS really a 'snake' that bites its friends?

COMMENT | When Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh presented his ideas to his boss, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, he was probably looking for a big break in his political career.

Three days before the meeting with Zahid, Akmal organised an Umno Youth special convention, where the youth wing he leads called for its party to leave the government.

“Umno members are not cowards,” he said.

However, Akmal went further. He saw the split of Malay parties as a tragedy, and revived the grand dream of combining the two largest Malay parties, Umno and PAS, in the Muafakat Nasional tent.

This was opportunistic as PAS leaders now felt betrayed by Bersatu after the Perlis menteri besar crisis, where a coup resulted in the PAS menteri besar being replaced by a Bersatu leader.

Akmal even had the backing of...