Undi18 campaigners detest being used as PM's 'bargaining chip'

 

The Young Voters Association - which played a key role in lobbying for the Undi18 initiative - has objected to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin using the initiative as part of a bid to stay in power.

“The proposed bill is a tactic by the prime minister to stay in power, as bipartisan cooperation for this bill would eventually translate into a confidence vote for the prime minister…

“Undi18 should not be used for political manoeuvring,” said the group in a statement, which is also known as the NGO Undi18.

The Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) concurred that Muhyiddin’s promises of reforms are just a bid to stay in power when his government is on the brink of collapse.

“All those offers could have been done early on, not when majority control is already lost.

“There is no barrier, for example, to implement Undi18 that was not only approved with a two-thirds majority but even garnered full support from all MPs,” it said in a separate statement.

This evening, Muhyiddin said he cannot resign because no other MP commands enough support to replace him, and a government is needed to ensure the Covid-19 vaccination programme continues as scheduled.

Instead, he appealed to the opposition to back him in the upcoming confidence vote by promising a slew of reforms, including implementing Undi18 without waiting for automatic registration.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his cabinet

Parliament had unanimously passed constitutional amendments in 2019 to lower the voting age from 21 years old to 18, and to automatically register people who are eligible to vote. 

However, the Election Commission (EC) postponed its implementation to Sept 1, 2022, claiming that preparations had been disrupted by the movement control order to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. An estimated 1.2 million youths are affected.

No need to decouple voting age and automatic registration

To expedite the implementation of the reduced voting age, Youth and Sports Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican had proposed in April to lower the voting age first without waiting for the automatic voter registration to be implemented.

However, the Young Voters Association argued that both the reduced voting age and automatic voter registration can be implemented simultaneously without further delay.

“The enforcement of automatic voter registration under Section 3(b) of the Undi18 bill merely removes the barriers to the implementation of automatic voter registration and does not directly lead to the implementation of automatic voter registration.

“Therefore, the prime minister is wrong in assuming that the lowering of the voting age can only be enforced through a constitutional amendment bill that separates the implementation of the lowering of the voting age from automatic voter registration,” it said.

It explained that by simultaneously implementing both legal provisions that enable younger voters to vote and automatic voter registration, this would allow 18 to 20-year-old Malaysians to register in accordance with existing laws.

In the meantime, the EC can continue its work to settle the technicalities of automatic voter registration. - Mkini