Salleh
KOTA KINABALU: Youths are among the ‘king makers’ in determining the mandate to rule the country in the future as they have crucial roles in the country’s democratic system.
Former Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak hence urged for the role of youths in shaping the direction of the country not to be viewed mildly.
And because of that, he feels that the implementation of voting at 18 needs to be expedited to bring fresh ideas and approaches to the national political arena.
Salleh said that the amendment to the Federal Constitution to reduce the voting age from 21 years old to 18 years old has been approved by the Dewan Negara in July 2019.
He also said that the amendment will witness people who are 18 years old being allowed to vote and become candidates as compared to 21 years old before this.
In addition, voters’ registration will also be conducted automatically in the future, he said.
“This move will place Malaysia to be at par with other developed countries such as, for example, Indonesia, which allows 17-year-olds to vote, while Argentina, Austria and Brazil allow voting for those as low as 16 years old.
“With the approval, there will be an increase of 20 percent or about 3.7 million new voters in the next election,” he said in his blog entry.
Salleh said that the figure clearly indicates the significant role of youths in the Malaysia democratic system.
“Although there are many questions regarding maturity and political literacy of the group concerned in determining the direction of the country, I opine that the group can achieve political maturity quite fast.
“This is because we are in the digital era and information can be accessed via various medium speedily.
The acquisition of information will help them to make judgement on who to support and who to vote for,” he said.
He also said that psychologically, the age of 18 is the final transition for a person to move towards adulthood.
“At this age, they are prone to making critical decisions and are far thinking in serious issues such as religion, race and the country,” he said.
Allowing the voting at 18 would also enable the group to see their right to vote as a recognition and will encourage their interest to participate in politics, he said.
“Through politics, they will have the opportunity to learn how to implement their responsibility and develop their leadership characters.”
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