The Malaysian Insight

PERIKATAN Nasional is aware that it will lose youth support if it fails to implement the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019 on lowering the age of voting to 18 years old, said Fahmi Fadzil.

The Lembah Pantai MP said this is the reason Bersatu, the main party in the ruling pact, is now urging for Undi18 to be implemented soon.

“There is a clear signal of U-turn when suddenly Bersatu said that the Election Commission must swiftly implement Undi18,” he said today.

Earlier, he and other Kuala Lumpur lawmakers had taken their second dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

Yesterday, Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainuddin urged the EC to speed up implementation of the bill.

He said the move was necessary to recognise the role and involvement of youth in politics.

The EC had announced on March 25 that it would not be able to implement the new voting age bill in July as was announced before. It said it will now be done after September next year.

This means that only Malaysians aged 21 and above will be able to register to vote in the next general election, which is expected to be called later this year.

Following that, a group of youths and activists staged a protest against the delay near Parliament, resulting in some of them being called up by the police for questioning.

Meanwhile, PKR organising secretary Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad called for Parliament meetings to be allowed now that the MPs have been vaccinated.

“Almost all the MPs have been vaccinated, so I don’t see why Parliament is still closed,” he said.

“The government has to prove its majority by allowing Parliament to sit.”

On January 12, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah declared a state of emergency for the country until August 1 to curb the increasing number of Covid-19 infections.

The ordinance bans the summoning of Parliament or state assemblies but these can still be held if the Yang di-Pertuan Agong thinks it is appropriate after consultation with the respective states’ ruler or governor. –  April 5, 2021.