BAU: Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin said 18-year-old persons are matured and hence should be able to make a wise decision when voting during elections.
“There are 18-year-olds who are already married, while there are those who start working at that age, for example in security agencies like the army and police,” said Willie.
He said the Bill to lower the age of voters from 21 to 18, which was approved by Parliament recently would provide opportunities to these young people to participate in the election process as voters and election candidates.
“I personally believe that we need to engage these young people to be actively involved in our nation building process,” he said when met by reporters at a career carnival held at Dewan Masyarakat Siniawan here yesterday.
Willie noted that in Indonesia, their citizens were allowed to vote at the age of 17, adding that it would be good to have young representatives in Parliament or state legislative assembly so that they could speak for the young generation.
“This is something new and part of Pakatan Harapan’s promises fulfilled,” he added.
He also said there was a need for young people to be brought out from the village boy mentality so that they could compete and participate in the development of the state and nation.
The parliamentarian called for us more outreach programmes by government agencies to engage with those young people in the rural areas.
