KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 ― Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman has questioned Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri’s silence over the Election Commission’s (EC) action today, even as the minister had previously consulted on the effort to lower voters' age to 18 dubbed Undi18.
The Muar MP said he had among others asked the then mufti and now minister in charge of religious affairs prior to bringing it to the Dewan Rakyat and Zulkifli supported the cause, but the latter is now silent when the EC delayed the decision yesterday.
“Before I proposed #Undi18 in the Dewan Rakyat, I met the mufti who is now minister of religion, for advice,” he posted on his Twitter account.
“He supported and I presented his opinion in the Cabinet. Now for ‘Covid’ reasons, millions of young people’s rights will be taken away.
“Where are you sir?” the Malaysia United Democratic Alliance (Muda) president asked.
Muda will now file a legal suit next week to challenge the postponement of Undi18.
Prior to the response, 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 decision has so far received massive backlash from both political divides.
Minister Khairy Jamaluddin today said the reason given by the EC was ludicrous and he will bring up the matter to the Cabinet, while Syed Saddiq earlier warned the Perikatan Nasional administration that older voters will punish them in the next election.
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.
