I meant youths need to be educated before voting, says Wan Fayhsal

 

Wan Ahmad Fayhsal has been under fire since a report came out saying he felt young people were not ready to vote.

PETALING JAYA: Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, who said last week that young Malaysians are not ready to vote, is now saying he had been misunderstood and what he actually meant was that youth voters should be responsible.

The deputy youth and sports minister said he did express concerns over the issue with a belief that with rights come responsibilities.

“The right to vote necessarily comes with the moral duty to do so judiciously,” he said in a statement.

Wan Fayhsal was referring to an article in The Rakyat Post with a heading that said “Malaysian youths not ready while the law sits in limbo …”

However, Wan Fayhsal said the heading rests on a comment that he made about young Malaysians being not ready to exercise their voting rights and that “they would need some form of prior institutionalised political education”.

He said he had also previously emphasised the need to educate voters so they are fully equipped to make an informed decision at the ballot box.

Voter education programmes, he said, should include the supremacy of the federal and state constitutions, the rule of law, the role of the monarchs and the purpose of democracy to safeguard the sovereignty of the nation.

“Our democracy relies heavily on the ability of our citizenry to make informed decisions based on established facts instead of speculation and extrapolation,” he said.

Wan Fayhsal said he supports Undi 18 as he did two years ago when it was passed in Parliament.

The Undi 18 bill, officially known as Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019, was passed by the Dewan Negara on July 25, 2019 and gazetted on Sept 10 that year.

Earlier today, Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan called on the government to “do the right thing” and allow the voting age to be lowered to 18.

Saying that MPs have discussed and supported the move, Shahril called on the government to be “gentlemen enough” and not change its stance on the issue “just because young voters are not in favor of the ruling party”. - FMT