KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — Agreeing with the Election Comission’s move to defer the automatic registration for voters above the age of 18, PAS MP Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said that there is no need to follow so-called Western age standards.

The Islamist party's president said that one’s maturity and ability to make good decisions is a bigger consideration over age when it comes to deciding on a government.

"PAS agrees with the EC in deferring the automatic registration of 18 year old voters because we want to emphasise the importance of a mature electoral roll. 

"A weak electoral roll will choose a weak government,” he was quoted by Utusan Malaysia as telling reporters in Terengganu. 

He said Islam touches on the period of maturity and that it is not achieved at a particular age, but can happen anytime, whether it is at 16, 18 or even 25 years of age.

"Some don’t mature, even at 40 years old, but yet we are guided by Western concepts of democracy, which is of age, and not maturity,” he said

Abdul Hadi's remark however differed from the party's Youth wing, which earlier today criticised EC's move. 

Its wing chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin said he was disappointed with the delay and offered the wing’s support in implementing the measures. 

Yesterday, the EC announced that it has decided to postpone Undi18 and the accompanying automatic voter registration, citing Covid-19 for causing delays to its implementation. This will mean that many potential voters will not be able to take part in the next general election, expected to be called sometime this year.

PAS is part of the current Perikatan Nasional government.

Earlier this year, the move to give 18-year-olds the ballot had already come into doubt after a deputy minister suggested that Malaysian youths were not ready to participate in voting.

Federal lawmakers crossed the political aisle and voted unanimously to amend the Federal Constitution in July 2019 and lower the minimum voting age from 21 to 18.