PETALING JAYA, Nov 20 — PAS needs to beef up efforts to woo Malaysia’s young voters for the next national polls, its youth chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi said today as he conceded that the Islamist party’s appeal to the key demographic remains below par.

The Temerloh MP said apart from a few constituencies that saw youth support for PAS rising by 30 per cent, most states, including Pakatan Rakyat-controlled (PR) Penang, recorded less than 50 per cent of the youth votes in the 13th general election.

“Unfortunately youth support in states like Negri Sembilan, Penang and Perlis are still below 50 per cent,” he said in his opening speech at the 54th PAS Youth muktamar (congress) here.

The numbers have not improved since the 2008 national polls, he added, although youth support for the party in Barisan Nasional-stronghold Johor increased slightly.

Nasrudin, however, noted that youth support for PR has generally risen by more than 50 per cent, resulting in the bloc’s unprecedented capture of the popular vote in the May 5 polls.

This, he added, will help build a good foundation for PR’s campaign in the 14th general election in light of the expected increase in youth voters by then.

“This can help us work towards the 14th general election,” he said.

Nasrudin added that PAS Youth will now strife to increase youth support by 15 per cent in each state seat, in line with its aspiration of winning 60 per cent of the demographic’s vote in the next polls.

The party’s post-mortem on its electoral performance and by default its future preparation for the next election is set to dominate the wing’s muktamar this year.

Although Nasrudin’s speech did not touch on PAS’ ideological clash with its allies in PR, analysts expect the wing’s hardliners to raise the matter during its meeting tomorrow.

Some are likely to blame the issue, as the chief cause of the party’s dismal performance in the last election.

In the May 5 polls, PAS saw its seats tally dropped to 21 from 23 in 2008. From the 73 seats it contested, it lost 52. In 2008, the percentage was higher in proportion to the seats it won against those contested.

Hot button topics like the “Allah” controversy that saw progressives and conservatives in PAS clash over whether or not non-Muslims have right to use the Arabic term to describe their god, is expected to surface as the wing goes into election.

Nasrudin’s position, however, is expected to be unchallenged as his conservative leanings sit well with the hardline faction that dominates the wing.

Delegates vote for the wing’s leadership tomorrow and results are expected in the evening.