KUALA LUMPUR: The Election Commission of Malaysia convened a last-minute closed door session on Tuesday with youth representatives from both sides of the political divide to discuss reforms to the electoral process.
TTF is made to understand that the meeting discussed the lowering of voter-eligibility age from 21 to 18 and the establishment of political societies and clubs in Malaysian universities.
What is strange about the whole affair is that the meeting was chaired by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Syed Saddiq.
Not only is Saddiq a youth leader in PPBM – a party whose chairman, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is the Prime Minister of Malaysia – the fact that he chaired a meeting by the Election Commission within the confines of his ministry speaks volumes of the commission’s impartiality and commitment to fair play during general elections.
Saddiq told the meeting that Mahathir had succeeded in commanding the support of two-thirds of parliamentarians and would use that majority to effect 13 major amendments to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia sometime in February next year.
Among the proposed amendments include the lowering of the voter-eligibility age, the automatic registration of eligible voters, the restructuring of the Election Commission, the introduction of a formula to ensure a fairer distribution of voters during delineation exercises and a complete revamp of the electoral system.
The absence of a representative from the DAP was more than conspicuous and the talk of everyone who attended the meeting.
