Kit Siang: Most OIC countries have Undi18, so what is Hadi's excuse?

 

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has been challenged to explain his "U-turn" in supporting the constitutional amendments to lower the voting age to 18.

In a statement today, Lim (above, left) said in the absence of a proper explanation, it could only mean that Hadi's vote for the amendments in Parliament in 2019 was not sincere.

"(It can only mean) it was not a genuine vote of support," said Lim.

The Dewan Rakyat voted unanimously to pass the Pakatan Harapan-administration bill to lower the voting age on July 16, 2019.

The law was supposed to come into effect in July this year. However, the Perikatan Nasional-BN-GPS coalition has postponed this process to Sept 1, 2022.

Hadi said his party supported the delay.

However, critics have pointed out that the move was designed to disenfranchise voters between 18 and 20 during the next general election, expected to be held immediately after Aug 1, should the emergency be lifted.

Meanwhile, Lim accused Hadi of ignorance in the fact that voting at 18 is increasingly becoming the norm in the world, especially in Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) member states.

Among others, Lim cited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan, Algeria, Libya and Palestine as countries with such rules.

He said that other countries such as Brazil, Ecuador, Cuba, Nicaragua, Scotland and Argentina had an even lower voting age - 16.

In the case of Austria, Lim said a study of the 16- to 17-year-olds showed they were just as capable as older voters to articulate their beliefs and make voting decisions appropriate for their preferences during the 2007 polls.

"Their knowledge of the political process was only insignificantly lower than in older cohorts, while trust in democracy and willingness to participate in the process were markedly higher," said Lim. - Mkini