Baru Bian
KUCHING (Sept 5): Selangau MP Baru Bian believes that it is time for Malaysia to allow the younger generation to have a voice.
He also expresses his hope for ‘a new Malaysia’, where all Malaysians would be treated equally irrespective of race and religion.
“I place my hope in the youths of our country,” he said in a statement, issued yesterday to commend the five Sarawakian youths who had won their suit against the federal government’s decision of delaying the implementation of lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 (Undi18).
In this respect, he said it was encouraging to note that the youths of today had a strong sense of responsibility towards the country, and that they wanted to have a say in how the country was being governed.
He said for far too long, the government had been led by the same politicians who had held their positions for many terms, and whose mindsets and values were outdated and even unacceptable in this day and age.
“If the five young applicants in this action were to be the representatives of the majority of Malaysian youths, then we have reason to see the hope and promise of better things to come.
“I also wish to commend the two young lawyers, Simon Siah and Clarice Chan, for taking up this case, as well as for the excellent preparations and compelling argument that they had put before the Kuching High Court,” said Baru, who is also Ba Kelalan assemblyman.
Through the legal action filed on May 4, Ivan Alexander Ong, Sharifah Maheerah Syed Haizir, Chang Swee Ern, Tiffany Wee Ke Ying and Viviyen Desi Geoge sought a declaration that the government’s action in delaying the implementation of lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 was ‘irrational, illegal, disproportionate and amounting to voters’ suppression’; and that ‘18 to 20-year-olds do have legitimate expectation that they have the right to vote in next elections’.
The five youths sought for the court order to quash the Election Commission (EC) and government’s decision of delaying the implementation of Undi18 until after September 2022, and also for the EC and the government to take all the necessary steps for the constitutional amendment, which included Undi18, to ‘come into effect as soon as possible and in any event by Dec 31, 2021’.
Baru said he was glad to learn of the decision by the Kuching High Court to compel the government and EC to take steps to implement Undi18 by the end of this year, to enable Malaysians aged 18 to vote in the next elections, instead of waiting until they turn 21.
He regarded the court ruling as ‘timely’, especially as it was clear that the Perikatan Nasional (PN)-led government made various excuses to delay the implementation of Undi18.
He pointed out that when the Constitution was amended to enable Malaysians to vote upon turning 18 18, the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led government had intended for Undi18 to be implemented before the 15th general election (GE15).
“The ruling by the honourable Judicial Commissioner (JC) that the EC and government had acted ‘illegally and irrationally’ upon deciding to delay the Undi18 implementation from the promised date of July 2021 to September 2022, is an indictment of the PN government and the EC.
“In his judgment, the JC made it clear that he was not convinced by the EC and government’s excuses for their sudden U-turn from their commitment towards implementing Undi-18,” said Baru.
He added that EC’s attempt to use the Movement Control Order (MCO) as an excuse for the failure in making the necessary preparations was not accepted by the judge, who stated that the EC had not explained how the MCO had affected its ‘plans and preparations’.