Don’t vote based on like or dislike, Azalina tells the young

 

Former law minister Azalina Othman Said said young voters should consider what impact is expected of the party and the government. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Former law minister Azalina Othman Said has urged young voters to look beyond personal preference when voting in the coming general election.

They should understand the impact of taking part in the elections in order to make the right decision when casting their votes, she said in a television interview.

“We cannot just go to cast votes because we like party A, or because we dislike party B. We need to vote after considering the impact that we expect from the party, the government and so forth. That is our responsibility,” she said.

Azalina, who was MP for Pengerang in the previous Parliament, agreed that having expectations could be a motivational driver for young people to take part in the elections.

However, she believes that this factor may have differing levels of impact between city dwellers and those living in the rural areas. “Maybe even male and female voters would be a little different,” she noted.

Azalina added that when Undi18 (the new lower voting age) was brought up by the former Pakatan Harapan government, Umno did not oppose it because the party knew that the lower age was bound to come about.

“We at Umno have been talking about it for a long time,” she said.

The general election will be held on Nov 19, with early voting set for Nov 15. Nominations will be on Nov 5.

A total of 21,173,638 voters will be eligible to cast their ballots in the elections, of whom young voters (aged 18-20) make up 1.4 million. - FMT