What Undi18 means for political parties

 

On Nov 25, the government gazetted the implementation of the constitutional amendments to lower the voting age to 18 as well as automatic voter registration, better known as the “Undi18” amendments.

These amendments were passed by Parliament in 2019, in a historic move that finally brought us in step with the majority of countries in the world.

The road to achieving this has been long and took decades. Iskandar Puteri member of Parliament, Lim Kit Siang, had in his winding-up speech in Parliament in 1971 put forth the proposal to lower the voting age to 18. He also, at that time, suggested that an all-party committee be set up to review the proposal.

Much later, groups such as Undi18 renewed the calls to lower the voting age. The clamour by the general populace for this particular reform led to Pakatan Harapan promising to amend the Federal Constitution in its manifesto.

This ultimately led to the 2019 amendments, which were passed unanimously by Parliament.

According to the gazette, the amendments will come into operation on Dec 15, 2021.

No political affiliations

The implementation of these amendments is expected to result in 5.6 million additional voters, comprising 4.4 million aged 21 and above and another 1.2 million aged between 18 and 21.

For context, in the 2013 general election, there were 13.2 million registered voters. In 2018, there were 14.9 million registered voters.

Between 2013 and 2018, there was an increase of 1.7 million new voters.

The addition of 5.6 million new voters is roughly three times the number of new voters between 2013 and 2018. This number, spread across the various constituencies, would mean that these new voters will likely determine which party or parties will win the next general election.

These new voters, especially those below the age of 30, usually have no political affiliations. Most do not have loyalty to any particular political party and will not be afraid to criticise or speak out against any political party or leader.

These young voters are not encumbered by nostalgic feelings of the past, which may have been present in their parents. These voters are also more likely to be less forgiving of corruption and anti-democratic practices. They want to see ‘new’ politics, not the old-style politics of yore.

Mature style of politics

A lot of them are also suspicious of politicians in general, and the Sheraton Move has dimmed their views on the electoral process.

Political parties would want to capture this significant electoral demographic as they may be the ones deciding the outcome of the next general election.

Political parties must be able to show that they can match the aspirations of these new voters and give opportunities to younger leaders in the party.

They must also be able to show that they are willing to engage in ‘new’, more mature style of politics demanded by these new voters.

The question is: can current political parties adapt to these new challenges? That remains to be seen. But if they do not at least attempt to do so, they risk being abandoned by these new voters and slowly becoming obsolete. - Mkini

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SYAHREDZAN JOHAN is a civil liberties lawyer and political secretary to Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.