By Arianna Arissa
Sarawak was the first state in Malaysia to amend its Constitution to lower the voting age from 21 years to 18 years old.
The state also lowered the minimum age required for a person to become an elected representative from 21 to 18 years old through the Constitution of State of Sarawak (Amendment) Bill 2020.
This puts the State Constitution in line with the amended Article 47(b) and Article 119(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution also known as the UNDI18 Bill which was passed in Parliament in mid-2019.
With UNDI18 being implemented since Dec last year, a number of Sarawak-based parties have taken this in their stride and set up new wings in their parties to accommodate youth members in this category.
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) which is the backbone of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government set up its Pergerakan Belia wings for members aged 18 to 28.
PBB vice president Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee was tasked with spearheading the committee to set up the new wing.
He said it is high time that PBB rejuvenate itself to remain relevant in the now youth-centric political environment.
“PBB, being the backbone of the ruling government, has always been a party that prepares future leaders in Sarawak. With the trend in global politics now shifting to younger representations as witnessed by the younger age of national leaders, age is now irrelevant for the people to elect its leaders.
“The people are looking at those who are knowledgeable and well educated as is the case in neighboring countries. This trend is not as obvious yet in our country, but I have no doubt that this will happen in Malaysia and PBB along with its leaders will have to give way and accommodate the young leaders within the party,” Dr Annuar said.
Similarly, the oldest political party in Sarawak – Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) – also followed in the same footsteps with the recent launch of its New Bees (ladies and gentlemen aged 18 to 28) and Puteri (ladies aged 18 to 30) wings.
As for Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), it set up a new wing named PEWARIS in March this year for youths aged 18 to 28 and it is being headed by the party’s youngest elected representative, Baleh assemblyman Nicholas Kudi Jantai.
Meanwhile, Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) vice president Datuk Dr Penguang Manggil stated that the party is eyeing a similar move as he believes that the party should have a similar structure.
For the record, it was reported that there are some 675,077 new voters in Sarawak as of Dec 31 last year with 66 percent of them in the 18 to 29 years old bracket.
