26 March 2021

Press statement by MCA Youth Spokesperson Jacob Lee Yee Yuan


EC’s justification on Undi18 unreasonable, implementation must be done immediately


On 16 July 2019, the Dewan Rakyat passed the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019, to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 years old, introduce automatic voter registration, and lower the age requirement for election candidates to 18 years.


However, the Election Commission yesterday claimed that the much awaited implementation of Undi18 will be delayed until September 2022 due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Regarding this turnout of events, MCA Youth opines that:

1. The EC’s justification is unreasonable. Firstly, how can the EC predict that, when the next general election is held, the nation will still be under MCO? Also, the EC’s current task is to update the electoral roll; what does the MCO have to do with this? Is the EC implying that MCO SOPs affect tasks such as this?

2. The amendment to enable Undi18 received 2/3 bipartisan support in the Parliament, and it also reflects the sentiment of the majority of youths. The EC’s responsibility is to ensure the implementation is done swiftly.

3. EC Deputy Chairman Dr Azmi Sharom said previously, even under Covid-19 and MCO, the preparations for Undi18 should be complete by June 2021. The EC’s latest announcement yesterday does not honour what they have said previously.

A recording of the press conference where MCA Youth stated our position is available at: https://www.facebook.com/MCAHQ/videos/197643971791875/?vh=e&extid=0&d=n

Jacob Lee Yee Yuan

MCA Youth Spokesperson

 

-MCA Online-