Umno Youth welcomes religious figures in GE13

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin described the 13th General Election (GE13) as ‘historical’ as non-political figures have stated their interest to join politics.

He said the youth wing welcomes the participation of religious figures in the political arena.

“If they wish to contest for Umno, we welcome them and if they wish to contest for our opponents, we welcome that too because they free to do so,” said Khairy on Friday.

He said there are two religious figures that might be contesting in GE13 - Prof Madya Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin and Dr Juanda Jaya.

Both of them are the former Mufti of Perlis and have been constantly commenting on current political issues.

Meanwhile, commenting on the matter of students becoming candidates in GE13, Khairy said everyone should respect the democracy given to them.

“In democracy we have to accept who are our opponents as long as that person can pay the deposit to the Election Commission (EC).

“But think twice or thrice... try to not lose your deposit. It’s not easy to contest in the election... this is not campus election,” said Khairy.

He said Umno Youth will not offer any student to contest in GE13 as he believe that the students should focus on their studies.