Ignore Undi18 impact at your peril, analyst tells politicians

 

Youths around the country have been pushing for the implementation of the Undi18 amendments, which had been scheduled to come into force this year.

PETALING JAYA: All political parties should fear the entry of Undi18 voters next year as it will cause major demographic changes in parliamentary and state constituencies, which is expected to have a bearing in future general elections, according to a political analyst.

Sivamurugan Pandian of Universiti Sains Malaysia said there would be massive shifts in racial breakdown of the electorate. The race factor often decides the outcome in most cases because of the emphasis on race-based politics in Malaysia.

This aside, he said what will be of intrigue to politicians is the mystery that surrounds these estimated five million youths as it is really hard to read their minds.

But he said the infusion of young Malay voters into urban and semi-rural constituencies which have a fairly large number of non-Malay constituents will have a great impact, as most of these seats are currently being held by PKR and DAP representatives.

“This could spell trouble for these parties whose strengths lie in these constituencies and declare them as safe seats. If they are going to rely on the politics of old where controls are based on personalities, they could become history,” he told FMT.

Confirming this fear is DAP’s Ipoh Barat MP M Kula Segaran, who has been winning easily in Ipoh Barat in the four general elections since 2004.

He said the DAP expected the demography of most parliamentary seats to change.

“With an expected 30,000 new voters in Ipoh Barat after Undi18, I expect 30% of the voters to be Malays. Presently, they make up 17%,” he said.

Sivamurugan said these first-time voters are all mainly in schools, colleges or fresh employees in the workforce whose earning capacity will have a bearing on how they gauge the government.

“These voters may be influenced by their family members, peers and lecturers. Their perception of the old guard in politics is also unknown but most of them may just ignore their contributions. They are generally anti-establishment being young and all so it matters how they are wooed,” he said.

He said this could be the reason why certain groups were pushing for the next general election to be held before March when their names will be officially in the electoral list.

Another major point, said Sivamurugan, is the impact the new party Muda is going to have as it is bound to attract the youth in droves, and change the political landscape.

“In addition, Muda’s tie-up with Warisan which has just set foot in West Malaysia could possibly end up being a force to be reckoned with. Any party that brushes off this possibility without thinking may end up paying a political price,” he said.

Two days ago, Amanah head Mohamad Sabu said the Warisan-Muda combination is not expected to be much of a threat to other political parties.

DAP’s Sungai Pelek assemblyman Ronnie Liu disagreed, saying it could give Pakatan Harapan a big headache.

He reportedly said the coalition will need to tread carefully or it could result in a disaster if the new combination is not taken seriously. - FMT