Contradicting the views of his own party colleagues, the Indera Mahkota MP said he supports allowing Malaysians who have turned 18 to cast their votes in the next general election (GE15) because they have reached the “age of maturity”, Bernama reported.
“We always don’t trust our youths but we want their support. We must have faith in them. I am definitely a strong supporter and I am very loud (about this). I have strong trust in youths.
“We say they are not ready but we do nothing to educate them. Eighteen is an age of maturity under the law. They can drive, can enter into contracts and won’t be charged as juveniles if they commit crimes,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
His comments come in contrast to those made by fellow PPBM leader and Dewan Negara president Rais Yatim, who said it is currently impractical to lower the voting age to 18 due to time-consuming obstructions faced by the relevant agencies in implementing it.
“On the issue of 18-year-olds voting, whether we can implement it now, the answer is no. Although it has been passed in terms of the legislature, in terms of readiness there are many gaps,” he said in a recent interview.
“After looking at the real situation from the lens of the Dewan Negara, it’s impractical to be implemented this season.”
Last month, PPBM Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal had also said that youths were not mature enough to vote and needed to be educated before being allowed to do so.
Saifuddin, the former president of the Malaysian Youth Council, added he had been championing the idea of educating young people to vote for some time, and had presented the idea of students selecting prefects through an election system, but faced pushback.
He expressed hope that Undi 18 could be implemented before GE15 as he was confident the Election Commission was prepared to handle it.
“I understand that there are many constraints, such as requiring it to be passed by state legislative assemblies for amendments, but I am confident this can be overcome when the state assemblies reconvene,” he said, according to Bernama.