Voting age may be lowered to 18 — PM

PUTRAJAYA: The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government may consider lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He told Malay Mail in an exclusive interview that the suggestion would be an acknowledgement of the strong political awareness shown by young voters in the 14th general election last month that saw Barisan Nasional (BN) ousted after six decades.

“I think it is worthwhile to consider that,” he said.

“We follow the practice in other parts of the world. It’s a big jump from 21 to 18, but it is a manifestation of our belief that people are better educated and they can make a judgment,” he said.

Among the countries that have adopted 18 as the legal qualifying age to vote are the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Iran, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.

According to Dr Mahathir, the possible lowering of the age limit is especially in light of the response among young adults to public initiatives that drove interest and awareness on the importance of voting prior to the polls.

He said the peaceful change of power to PH was such a display of “people power”, but done Malaysian-style.

“In the case of the Philippines, people power only occurred after the withdrawal of support of Marcos by Defence Minister [Juan Ponce] Enrile and Vice-Chief of Staff Lt Gen Fidel Ramos, who was also the chief of [then] Philippine Constabulary.

“Only then were they able to express via demonstrations,” said Dr Mahathir.

Since 2017, a group of youths calling themselves Undi18 have been campaigning to lower the eligible voting age from 21 to 18, saying young adults were the largest age group in the country.