KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — The reduction of the voting age to 18 years will enable the voice of the young group in the country to be more clearly and loudly heard to become the foundation to the formation of the nation.
Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman said that this was because the issues raised by the young would be the issues of the future which they would be facing.
“The issue of the young is the issue of the people, also called politics of the masses. We should only think that politics is only for the rich, aristocrats, towns and the educated because the vote of every group is very meaningful in deciding the national administrator.
“It is the same with the young group, when at the age of 18 years, you also want a good education system, scholarship and job opportunities but at this time you are not given the right. This is what I mean as unjust and we must champion it today,” he said in a direct telecast programme Politiconomy on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) yesterday.
Broaching on the political maturity of the youth group at the age of 18 years, Syed Saddiq believed that 18 years was an age in which one could make mature decisions to decide the national future.
However, he wanted the youths to be more inquisitive about the domestic situation and current issues taking place to enable them to be clear about the true struggle in developing the nation.
“Youths must have a clear guideline on politics because politics is not just involving symbol and party only. It is more than that, covering the development of industrial revolution and the development of domestic and foreign issues,” he said.
The motion to amend Article 119(1) of the federal Constitution to reduce the voting age from 21 to 18 would be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today.
The motion, which was one of the promises in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto, was expected to be tabled by Syed Saddiq after it was unanimously agreed to by the Cabinet in September. — Bernama
