KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — PPP Youth Malaysia has welcomed UMNO Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh’s policy speech at the UMNO Youth General Assembly 2026, stressing that efforts to strengthen Malay-Muslim unity must not marginalise other communities.

PPP Malaysia National Youth Chief and Barisan Nasional Youth Malaysia vice-chairman Sathiah Sudakaran said the speech, themed “Ini Jalan Kita” (This Is Our Path), should be viewed as a call for the younger generation of leaders to embrace courageous, principled and solution-oriented politics.

Sathiah said PPP Youth respected UMNO’s aspiration to strengthen Malay and Muslim unity, while welcoming Akmal’s assertion that defending Malay interests did not mean being hostile towards non-Malays, and upholding Islam did not mean denying the rights of followers of other religions.

He described the message as important and deserving serious attention.

“The unity of one community should not be built upon fear of another. Empowering one community does not mean that we must weaken another,” Sathiah said in a statement today.

He said Malaysia could only become stronger when Malays, Chinese, Indians, the communities of Sabah and Sarawak, and all Malaysians were able to move forward together with mutual respect and confidence that everyone had a place in the nation’s future.

According to Sathiah, the approach reflected the longstanding foundation of Barisan Nasional, where component parties defend the identities and aspirations of their respective communities while coming together on common ground when national interests are at stake.

He said BN’s younger leaders should take this spirit further by championing their respective communities without becoming racist, defending their respective religions without insulting other faiths, and accepting political differences without treating one another as enemies.

Sathiah also welcomed Akmal’s emphasis on the need for youth to have the courage to serve as a voice of checks and balances, saying leaders should ultimately be judged by their work and service to the people rather than political rhetoric.

He said proposals concerning the welfare of p-hailing workers, housing for young couples, childcare centres (TASKA), Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), and welfare protection for families showed that youth politics needed to move beyond slogans towards practical solutions.

PPP Youth, he said, wanted such issues to become key areas of unity within the wider BN Youth movement.

Sathiah proposed that UMNO Youth, PPP Youth, MCA Youth, MIC Youth and PBRS Youth work together to formulate a comprehensive BN Youth Agenda focusing on high-paying employment, TVET, entrepreneurship, home ownership, education, the cost of living and social mobility.

“We cannot come together only when elections are approaching. We must come together when the people need solutions,” he said.

Sathiah also congratulated Akmal on what he described as a courageous policy speech that raised important issues worthy of mature discussion among the younger generation of leaders.

He said PPP Youth was ready to remain a constructive partner within the Barisan Nasional family by supporting what was right, offering its views when necessary and standing together in defending the interests of all Malaysians.

“Our approaches may differ, but our destination must remain the same — a Malaysia that is stable, prosperous, fair and united for all,” he said.