KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — The Malaysia United Democratic Alliance (Muda) said today that it is planning to file a suit as soon as possible to challenge the postponement of Undi18.
In a statement this evening, the party said that the Election Commission’s (EC) reason for the delay — the Covid-19 pandemic — made a mockery of Malaysians.
“It makes no sense that during the MCO and the Emergency, children still attended virtual classes from home, people still went to work to pay off bank debts — but the government gives lame excuses when it comes to bureaucratic issues,” Muda said.
Muda added that the postponement of Undi18 is a violation of democratic rights and contradicts the country’s Constitution.
“More than two-thirds of Malaysians have shown their support for this motion, and its postponement only demonstrates that the government is afraid of the youth,” it said.
Earlier today, the EC announced that it has decided to postpone Undi18 and the accompanying automatic voter registration, citing Covid-19 for causing delays to its implementation.
The EC said it needed to evaluate new obstacles and persisting issues as well as account for the various movement control orders (MCO) that are in place.
Undi18 had already come into doubt earlier this year after a deputy minister suggested that Malaysians youths were not ready to participate in voting.
Federal lawmakers crossed the political aisle and voted unanimously to amend the Federal Constitution in July 2019 and lower the minimum voting age from 21 to 18.
Undi18 can only take effect once it has been gazetted, which was scheduled for the second half of this year.
