POLITICAL CAMPAIGNING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS SOON?
THE Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) is studying a proposal on whether campaigning should be allowed in secondary schools.
This is in light of a proposal to lower the voting age to 18, said the Youth and Sports Ministry.
Its deputy minister, Steven Sim Chee Keong, said: “EC with the collaboration of the ministry and ERC is reforming the country’s electoral system, including (issues related to) the lowering of voting age to 18, automatic voter registration and implementation of a (new) voting system.”
Sim was replying to a supplementary question from Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (Pas-Pasir Mas) at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Fadhli had wanted to know whether the government was prepared to allow election campaigning on school grounds, as lowering of voting age to 18 would need to consider that voters of that age include high school students studying in Form 6.
In reply to another supplementary question from Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Umno-Rembau), Sim said the ERC was also looking into the feasibility of education and exposure of 18-yearolds to politics as part of the bigger proposal to lower the voting age to 18. Sim said a special youth committee at the ministry level had been established and had its first meeting on Nov 13 to study the prospect of lowering the voting age to 18.
“This committee comprised of leaders from the youth wings of political parties, including Umno Youth.
“(We) seek the cooperation of lawmakers and political parties to successfully lower the voting age to 18.
“There is nothing to worry about the factor of maturity (of 18-year-old voters) as maturity is a dynamic (process) at every stage of age.
“There are those aged 18 and are mature, while there are 40year-olds who are immature,” Sim said to laughter from member of parliaments present.
Earlier in response to the original question from Fadhli on the rationale behind the proposal to lower the voting age to 18, Sim said the move was to make youths as strategic partners in forging the nation’s future.