Sabah opposition slams EC over Undi18 delay, calls it politically-motivated

 

The Election Commission is betraying the consensus achieved by both houses in Parliament, says Sabah DAP youth chief Phoon Jin Zhe.

KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah youth minister Phoong Jin Zhe has slammed the Election Commission (EC) over the delay in the implementation of the Undi18 Bill, which includes the automatic voter registration of 18-year-olds as voters.

Phoong, who is also Luyang assemblyman, claimed that besides showing EC’s incapability and inefficiency, the delay was also a politically-motivated decision.

This is because, he said, the EC had more than a year to prepare for the implementation after the Dewan Negara passed the bill on July 25, 2019.

“The EC using the excuse of the movement control order (MCO) (for the delay) is ridiculous and unacceptable. It’s a disgrace for Malaysia,” the state DAP youth chief said here today.

“The EC and Perikatan Nasional (PN) must explain the delay. Blaming it on the MCO is clearly unacceptable.

“The Undi18 Bill was a national consensus as Parliament unanimously passed the bill in July 2019 with 211 MPs voting in favour of it, with no objections from any MP.

“This is an obvious act of disrespecting the rights of our youths and this is also clearly a betrayal of the consensus achieved by both houses in Parliament.”

Phoong Jin Zhe.

As such, Phoong called for all young people “to stand up and protest” against the decision on social media or publicly.

“Let’s rise and tell the government how disappointed we are. Since the bill was approved through a bipartisanship effort, I urge all MPs especially those who are currently part of the PN-led government to state their position on the issue.

“Moreover, ministers and deputy ministers should resign if they are unable to implement the bill as promised because this shows how much of a hypocrite they are for voting for it before this but delaying the implementation on purpose,” he said.

In a statement earlier today, EC chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh said the automatic registration of 18-year-olds as voters was expected to be delayed until after September 2022.

He said the movement restrictions due to the pandemic had disrupted the EC’s preparations to implement the policies. - FMT