Bersatu Youth reiterates support for 'Undi 18', says Wan Fayhsal's remark manipulated

 

Bersatu Youth today reaffirmed its supportive stance for lowering the voting age to 18 after its chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal courted flak for saying those aged 18 to 20 were not yet ready to vote.

Its information chief Mohd Ashraf Mustaqim Badrul Munir (above) said "Undi 18" was adopted as Bersatu Youth's agenda from the beginning as the party was involved in its advocacy when the bill was being drafted.

"We fully supported the implementation of 'Undi 18'," he said in a statement today.

"Prior to 'Undi 18' being passed in Parliament and in the early stages of the formulation of the 'Undi 18' (bill), Bersatu Youth had been indirectly involved as an entity that played an advocacy role to promote its understanding among the community," he said.

"Hence, there is no dispute over the stand of our leadership where 'Undi 18' is concerned," he said.

He slammed several parties for manipulating Wan Fayhsal's remark on "Undi 18".

"It has become an issue when an explanation by the Bersatu Youth chief was manipulated by some quarters when he stressed on political education," said Ashraf.

Various education programmes have also been carried out to promote understanding among young people at the school level on Malaysian democracy as well as on the basics of politics, he added.

"This is in line with the parliamentary level which passed the 'Undi 18' bill in hope of producing a generation that is more responsible for its rights and choices," he said.

Wan Fayhsal had reportedly stated in an online dialogue that those aged 18 to 20 were not yet ready to vote.

He had later clarified that his statement on the need to educate young voters should not be construed as him wavering in support for lowering the voting age from 21 to 18.

The amendment to the Federal Constitution to lower the voting age from 21 to 18, dubbed "Undi 18", was passed in 2019.

The implementation is supposed to take effect in June when automatic voter registration will also be introduced.

However, in the lead up to the implementation, there are now efforts to stonewall the initiative including from Wan Fayhsal's own party.

Dewan Negara speaker Rais Yatim, who is from Bersatu, had claimed that those aged 18 to 20 were not yet ready to fully commit to their democratic rights. - Mkini