KOTA KINABALU – Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has called on the Election Commission (EC) to be firm on the implementation of lowering the voting age to 18 (Undi18) without being swayed or influenced by the opinions of any political leader.
The Semporna MP said the EC needs to confer more with all stakeholders – including opposition parties – on the framework to make the lowering of the voting age to 18 years a success.
He stressed that the federal government has been evasive on the matter even though the law allowing the lowering has been passed by Parliament.
“Any delay in this process will definitely affect the mood of young people who want to be equally involved in restoration of the democratic system of the country,” he said in a Facebook post.
“I am confident in the maturity and judgment of young people in making their decisions at the ballot box.
“It is not a question of giving freedom to them. This is a question of their rights being confiscated – and (it) should be returned.”
Shafie described the lowering of the age for both voters and candidates in elections as the best gift of the previous federal administration, which was under Pakatan Harapan (PH), to the country’s youths.
He noted that the Dewan Negara had passed the related amendment to the Federal Constitution on July 15, 2019 – ten days after it was passed unanimously in the Dewan Rakyat. It was gazetted two months later.
“However, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government today is seen to be pussyfooting with this law, even though it was gazetted in September 2019,” he said.
Shafie said that the inaction of the government gives the impression that young people are considered unimportant to the practice of democratic systems in the country.
“With the execution of automatic voter registration, it can give a boost to the younger generation to equally contribute in making such big decisions on the formation of a government and electing the leadership of the country.”
The MP said the government should instead use this opportunity to encourage the 4.2 million Malaysians aged 21 years and above who have not registered yet as voters to do so.
On March 11, Dewan Negara president Rais Yatim was reported to have said that it is impractical to lower the voting age to 18 for now because of time-consuming obstructions faced by the relevant agencies in implementing it.
Rais said it would take time to come up with the list of 18-year-olds eligible to vote and the constituencies they come from.
The veteran politician said this would have to involve the resources of both the National Registration Department and the EC.
Giving a “no” on whether the implementation could be done now, he said although the legislation has been passed, there are many gaps in terms of readiness.
Rais claimed after looking at the real situation from the lens of the Dewan Negara it was impractical to be implemented this season.
Previously, it was reported the EC had said the implementation of the 18-year-old voting age and automatic voter registration would be implemented from July this year. – The Vibes, March 14, 2021
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