By Wala’ Muiz
KUALA LUMPUR, 21 October 2021: Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that it is about time that youth are given the power to be part of making changes in Malaysia when referring to efforts towards recognising the Undi-18 initiative.
The Undi-18 initiative will be implemented along with the automatic voter registration by 31 December in which it was declared by the Parliament and Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament), Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, as aligned with the order by the Kuching High Court.
A meeting between the Prime Minister and 41 representatives of the National Student Consultative Council (Majlis Perundingan Pelajar Kebangsaan or MPPK) had been conducted on Tuesday (19 October) which was also attended by Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Noraini Ahmad.
In the meeting, Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri had laid out his views and action plans in regards to the improvement that can be done for Undi-18.
The MPPK president, Amir Asyraf stated that he received many interesting inputs that will be taken note of.
Amir also expressed his gratitude for granting the youth the right to express their concerns towards the government in a more rightful way.
The two-way communication between the students and the government will be ensured through the medium provided by the MPPK. This would allow students to assist the government in its developmental process.
Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri also stated that he confided in the youth of MPPK and their leadership during the meeting where some of those who were present would become among future leaders of the country.
The meeting was productive in a way that the representatives of MPPK were promised to hold a communicative ground with the government which would be in parallel with one of the objectives of Undi-18.
It is in hope that with the lower age for voting and increased volume of their voices, the youth could propose better and more groundbreaking as well as more advanced changes for future Malaysia.***