SIBU, Nov 6 ― Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing calls upon all to stop politicising the Undi18, which refers to the lowering of the voting age in Malaysia from 21 to 18, set to be implemented in January next year.

According to him, the government welcomes the 18-year-olds and even those under 18 to take part in the political process and understand it.

"The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN) has been effectively dissolved after the Emergency was lifted.

"Do not politicise the issue unnecessarily,” he said in a statement issued last night, in response to the question posed by the media about the Opposition parties having repeatedly condemned the rush to hold the state election in Sarawak and accusing the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS)-led government of preventing the implementation of Undi18 to bar voters under the age 18 from voting.

In this respect, the MP pointed out that if GPS feared the young people being given their right to vote, why the GPS-led Sarawak had become the first state to amend its constitution to lower the age of an election candidate to 18.

"If we’re afraid, why would such a motion even be submitted?

"The real problem is that the federal government has not yet responded with enacting the relevant laws and regulations to implement this policy, which may take months to resolve and rectify.

"It is certainly not something that could be done within this year.

Compare it to resuming flights, which would take time. If done half-heartedly, it could be disastrous.

"Would anyone dare take these flights? If voting for 18-year-olds is implemented so haphazardly, we need to know what kind of problems that would be caused in the future,” he said, questioning the Opposition if they would ‘make a big fuss about it’ or even ‘threaten to take legal action then’.

"Implementing this policy is not as simple as it seems. Many details need to be studied. GPS absolutely welcomes voting for those aged 18.

"Otherwise, Sarawak would not have been the first state to amend the constitution to pave the way for it,” he pointed out.

Tiong said the decision to end the Emergency and dissolve the DUN was made after much careful consideration by Yang di-Pertuan Agong, following meetings with various ministries and departments.

He said only when the ruling government and the Opposition cooperated and complied with the Covid-19’s standard operating procedures (SOP) could Sarawak carry out the election process smoothly and safely.

"Going forward, the elections in Sarawak would add to the number of uncertainties, including weather forecasts for monsoons in February and March.

"At that time, the impact of the weather could deter voters from coming out to vote.

"In fact, without the pandemic, the elections were due to be held in the middle of this year; still, we could not gamble with the health and lives of the people,” he said.

Tiong also believed that by holding to the political philosophy of pragmatism to focus on the rights and interests of the people of Sarawak, the government would be able to win the support of voters aged 18 in the polls.

"In fact, it was the state government’s idea to hold the Sarawak election as stipulated in the law, once the daily new confirmed Covid-19 cases in Sarawak had gone down to zero.

"However, with the virus numbers soaring from three to four digits due to the Delta variant, there were no reliable conditions for the election to proceed as scheduled and the Emergency was necessary.

"Due to the fact that the election in Sarawak have been delayed for far too long and with the pandemic situation in Sarawak becoming more under control, there might not be a window for any election that is more ideal than now,” he underlined.

Tiong said there was no telling how the pandemic would go, or how long the trend would last into the future.

The MP also pointed out that in respect to the state and federal constitutions, it was legally necessary to remove the State of Emergency and to dissolve DUN Sarawak to return the mandate to the people.

"This has nothing to do with ‘avoiding first-time voters’ as alleged by certain quarters,” he added. ― Borneo Post