KUCHING, March 26: A 15-month delay in the implementation of the Constitutional Amendment to lower the voting age to 18 and have automatic voter registration is unfounded, said Young Voters Association (Persatuan Pengundi Muda or PPM).
PPM, in a statement today, emphasised that the Election Commission (EC) has been given two years to make preparations to implement the initiatives of lowering the voting age to 18 (Undi 18) and automatic voter registration (AVR) before July 2021 which amendment was unanimously passed in Parliament in July 2019.
“Even though this amendment has received unanimous support from Members of Parliament (MPs) including Prime Minister (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) himself, the implementation however appeared to be intentionally delayed.”
PPM raised this issue following EC chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh’s announcement that implementation of Undi 18 and AVR can only be realised by Sept 1, 2022, at the earliest as the EC is facing constraints such as the Movement Control Order (MCO).
“We refer to the statement or written answers given by Minister in the Prime Minister Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan in the Dewan Rakyat on Nov 2, 2020 in which he informed that EC expects all preparations to be completed within 18 to 24 months from the date of the approval of the amendment, and informed the date of implementation by July 2021 at the latest.
“Last week on March 14, the Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Seri Reezal Merican also expressed the view that Undi 18 implementation should be defended and realised because the amendment has been supported by 211 MPs.”
On the statistics revealed by EC that the number of Malaysian citizens aged 18 to 20 years is only 1.2 million people compared to 4.4 million aged 21 years and above, PPM viewed that the statement seemed to undermine the rights and strengths of young voters.
“It seems to give the perception that the voting rights of those under the age of 21 are worthless, and that their numbers are too few to change the political landscape of the country.
“Every vote is very meaningful for the country’s democracy, so the postponement of this right will only affect the spirit of young people to continue to be involved in the restoration of Malaysia’s democratic system.”
Therefore, PPM urged Malaysian citizens aged 18 to 20 be given the right to vote immediately.
Even though the EC may take longer to complete the implementation AVR, PPM however stressed that those aged 18 to 20 should be allowed to register to vote immediately in line with the original timeline for implementing Undi 18.
PPM thus called on Muhyiddin to state his commitment in implementing this policy to lower the age of Malaysian voters according to the timeline which has been determined in the Cabinet which he, himself, has voted as an MP. — DayakDaily
