Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah
KUCHING: A Sarawak cabinet minister is supportive of the move to amend the Federal Constitution to lower the voting age from 21 to 18.
Minister of Welfare, Community Well Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said it is reasonable to set 18 as the minimum voting age because individuals of such age are already considered adults.
“I agree (with lowering the voting age to 18). Those 18 and above are considered adults.
“This is also the reason why we have proposed the minimum age of marriage to be 18 years old,” she said when contacted yesterday.
Fatimah said individuals 18 years and above had already voiced their opinions in schools.
“They have been given the chance to state their opinions, make choices and decisions through guided autonomy.
“In schools for example, some of them have joined uniformed organisations such as the prefect body, club committees as well as some external related youth clubs to acquire leadership and decision-making skills.”
She believed they were also enlightened on specific systems in the nation, to help discipline themselves while learning more about the legal framework of the nation.
With this, Fatimah said the young individuals would be able to make decisions pertaining to politics in a mature and wise manner.
On Wednesday, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said the federal cabinet had agreed to lower the voting age from 21 to 18.
He said the Federal Constitution had to be amended by way of acquiring a two-thirds majority in Parliament for the decision to take effect.
Syed Saddiq added that he would work towards securing the two-thirds majority by meeting up with MPs from among the youths regardless of their political parties to set up a youth caucus.