16 NGOs want detailed explanation for EC’s Undi18 postponement

KUALA LUMPUR: Sixteen youth organisations yesterday jointly condemned the Election Commission’s (EC) recent announcement to postpone the implementation of the Undi18 Bill to Sept 1 next year.

They said the delay in the implementation of the measure, which was supposed to take effect in July, was a violation of Malaysian youths’ constitutional rights and disrespectful to the parliamentary process.

“The Undi18 Bill has been written into Malaysia’s Constitution and is a reflection of our democracy.

“The EC’s failure to implement this bill by July and provide a sufficient explanation for its delay shows disregard of youths as equal and valuable participants in Malaysia’s democracy.

“We must defend our constitutional rights and ensure that the most basic component of democracy is accessible to all,” they said in a statement yesterday.

The organisations are Youth in Politics, Myer Movement, Youths.My, Arus Anak Muda, 111 Initiative, The Pendulum Show, The Noeo Project, StandUp Malaysia, CurtainsUP! Malaysia, Klima Action Malaysia, The Sambal Pod, Dear Asian Youth KL, BenarBetul, Komuhakan Movement, Sorrygaisbut and KPUM.

They urged the EC to grant youths the democratic right to vote, as promised in the Undi18 Bill.

“The EC should allow manual voter registration to be opened to youths aged 18 to 20 as soon as possible where automatic voter registration is not possible.

“We call for all Malaysians to join us in holding the EC accountable for its failure to implement the bill in an efficient and timely manner.”

The organisations called for transparency and public accountability over the EC’s efforts with regard to the bill.

“Firstly, we call for a detailed and clearer explanation of the obstructions and challenges in implementing the bill by July.

“Secondly, we call for regular updates and disclosures on the progress of the implementation of the bill, such as monthly reports that are data-driven and grounded in evidence, in addition to the interim report promised to be released in September.

Malaysia United Democratic Alliance vice-president Lim Wei Jiet refuted the argument that the bill needed to be passed by state legislative assemblies before the federal government could gazette it.

“I’m referring to social media propaganda, which seeks to build a narrative that all state legislative assemblies need to approve the bill before the federal government can gazette it.

“And as there are states, including states under the Pakatan Harapan administration that have not done so, the bill cannot be gazetted by July. This is not true from a legal point of view,” he said yesterday.

What was under the jurisdiction of the state legislative assemblies, Lim said, was the age limit of the candidates, and that applied only to state seats.

“The state legislative assemblies have no power to determine or influence the age limit of voters, be it at the state- or parliamentary level, that is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government.

“As such, the gazetting by the federal government to lower the voters’ age limit from 21 to 18, which had been promised for July, has nothing to do with whether the bill has been approved by the state legislative assemblies.”