KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 3 — Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has lauded the decision of the High Court in Kuching, Sarawak, ordering the government and Election Commission (EC) to extend the vote to those aged 18 years old by the end of the year.
In a statement, the former youth and sports minister said the ruling was in line with the constitutional amendment to lower the voting age from 21 to 18, which was approved in 2019 via a unanimous vote in Parliament.
“Millions of young people have won today. A political earthquake which will forever change the landscape of Malaysian politics.
“Thanks to the youths who took the government to court, today they’ve won for the millions of youths,” he said on Twitter.
He also urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Attorney General Tan Sri Idrus Azizan Harun not to appeal today’s decision but instead ensure the implementation of the lowered voting age.
“Prime Minister Ismail Sabri was also the leader of the Opposition when the Undi18 motion was passed in the Dewan Rakyat with a majority vote from its members.
“Therefore, it is appropriate for Undi18 to be immediately executed at the implementation stage of the Election Commission,” he said.
Earlier today, the High Court in Kuching, Sarawak ruled that the government and EC must take steps to implement Undi18 by the end of this year to enable Malaysians aged 18 to vote in the next elections instead of waiting until they turn 21.
High Court judicial commissioner Alexander Siew How Wai ruled that the EC and government had acted “illegally” and “irrationally” when they decided to delay the Undi18 implementation from the promised date of July 2021 to September 2022.
