No one said election will be this year, says Azmin
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ALLOWING 18-year-olds to vote as well as automatic voter registration will be introduced after September 2022, as the next general election is not expected until 2023, International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali said today.
“No one promised that the next election would be in 2020 or 2021,” he told reporters at an event at the Concorde Hotel in Shah Alam.
He said circumstances such as the Covid-19 pandemic had caused the delay.
“The Election Commission (EC) has already mentioned there is a delay due to the movement-control order (MCO) so do not blame us for the delay,” he said, referring to the EC’s statement yesterday.
“Perikatan Nasional supports the great contribution of young people to democracy.”
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has said the general election will be held as soon as possible when the Covid-19 pandemic eases and the emergency can be lifted.
Malaysia is currently under a state of emergency, which could before or at latest by August 1, if the virus outbreak is brought under control.
The emergency was declared ostensibly to fight the Covid-19 spread, but critics accuse Muhyiddin of using it to stave off political opposition in Parliament, which has been suspended.
The EC announced yesterday that implementation of Undi 18 would be deferred to September 2022 at the earliest, blaming the MCO in place to curb Covid-19 as the prime reason for the delay.
The new deadline is more than a year later than promised by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Takiyuddin Hassan, who originally said the new law would be introduced by July this year.
The EC’s announcement caused a storm of protests, including on Twitter, where people have vented their anger at the commission and the PN government, using the hashtag #PNipu to refer to the ruling coalition as liars.
Meanwhile, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has broken ranks with PN and criticised the EC for giving an unacceptable excuse for the delay.
The minimum voting age was lowered to 18 from 21 previously after the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019 was passed by the Dewan Rakyat on July 16, 2019, swiftly followed by the Dewan Negara on July 25, 2019. – March 26, 2021.