KUALA LUMPUR – The youth-based party Muda has taken the government to task for claiming that it is committed to making it possible for those aged 18 to vote soon (Undi18).
Its vice-president Lim Wei Jiet said that the government must state a specific commitment to implement Undi18, which has already been passed by Parliament, on or before July 2021.
He cautioned that if it comes into effect after July the registration process for 18 to 20-year-old Malaysians can be expected to take several months.
This, he said, would cause young voters to not be eligible to vote in time for the upcoming 15th general election (GE15) which is due by September 2023, but is widely anticipated to be held much earlier.
“Honestly, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government must give a commitment to implement Undi18 on or before July 2021,” he said.
“This is the date promised many times before. The people should not accept any date after July,” he said in a statement today.
Earlier, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan emphasised that the government is committed to making it possible for those aged 18 to vote soon.
"Komited", "beriltizam", "tempoh terdekat".
— Lim Wei Jiet ?? (@limweijiet) April 29, 2021
Sorry, these are just big pompous words with no meaning.
Give us a SPECIFIC TIMELINE.
Namely: "Pada atau sebelum Julai 2021". Which u have promised.
Until we see the gazette, we must all continue to keep pressuring this Gov. pic.twitter.com/SPKcvfNjsD
He said this commitment was discussed and confirmed at yesterday’s cabinet meeting.
Takiyuddin said this shows that the government is intent on lowering the voting age to 18 in the next polls, including any by-elections or state elections.
He however did not mention any specific date or time frame for the government to implement Undi18.
Lim said the government’s decision to implement Undi18 in the “near future” would not have been possible without the efforts of Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Sri Reezal Merican, as well as several other cabinet members.
Reezal is the Umno MP for Kepala Batas.
“However, this (Takiyuddin’s) statement is still not good enough because there is no specific commitment and timeline on when Undi18 will be implemented,” Lim said.
On March 25, the Election Commission announced that automatic voter registration and Undi18 can only be done after September 2022. It cited constraints faced by it as a result of the enforcement of the movement control order to curb Covid-19. – The Vibes, April 29, 2021
