KUCHING: The upcoming 15th general election (GE15) is a platform for the country’s youth to exercise their right to vote and express their thoughts on the democratic system, a non-governmental organisation said.
Malaysian Youth Diplomacy chair Elisa Syafiqah said the nation’s youth is hoping for a positive reassurance that governance exhibited by potential lawmakers can help to address important and critical issues affecting them.
“It is the way for us to ensure that the vote we cast is seen as the actual mandate of whom we want to be in office and materialise the aspirations that we want to see in the agenda-setting and policy-making spectrum.
“To ensure that the youth does not resort to political apathy, compelling manifestos are not supposed to be mere ‘eye candy’. The candidates must exhibit feasible and practical ones,” she told New Sarawak Tribune, today.
The 21-year-old pointed out that failure to vote would result in youth becoming fatigue looking at the nation’s political scene.
Subsequently, it highlights that the political system has failed the youth from being interested to take part in civic participation.
Noting how the youth holds various marginalised communities such as Persons with Disability (PWD) and more, she said there is a need to make sure that the voting procedures are also intuitive and accessible for these groups to go out and cast their votes.
Elisa said understanding the steps of voting outside of the country is also important, especially by taking into account the Malaysian diaspora.
“However, efforts by the Election Commission (EC) in educating on this have been low throughout the years. Many have to rely on NGOs to raise awareness and such mobilisation can be fairly limited,” she said.
With staggering prices of transportation of buses and flights, she pointed out that Bornean youth would be burdened by this as the election date will be announced on short notice.
This would result in limited seats available for them to go home and cast their votes.
“Given the current socioeconomic conditions in Malaysia, the young voters who have to juggle in between jobs might even opt not to vote should election day falls on a working day because they have to prioritise having food on the table,” she said.
Elisa called on the youth to think of the issues that are affecting them the most.
She advised them to be critical and do some research on the candidates before casting their votes, adding that they should vote for those who can address issues they are concerned with.
“For instance, as a woman and PWD, I want to see the agenda of women and youth as well as peace and security is promoted significantly so that my community can have access to better opportunities.
“For others, it might be education, health, citizenship rights and many more,” she said.
