After Undi18, Senate president Wan Junaidi says time to lift cap age 30 cap on Dewan Negara

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — Malaysians as young as 18 should be given the chance to become senators since the voting age has been lowered from 21, according to Dewan Negara Speaker Tan Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

The former Santubong MP who is now Senate president told The Star in an interview published today that he is looking to introduce a special provision under the Federal Constitution to facilitate this move.

“I plan to introduce amendments to the Federal Constitution so that we can appoint youth to be members of the Dewan Negara.

“I propose we create a provision under (Article 45 of the Constitution) to appoint youths aged 18 and above,” he was quoted as saying.

Currently, a person must be at least 30 years old to become a senator, but Wan Junaidi said appointing someone over the age of 18 to be a member of the Dewan Negara would allow the government to understand youth issues better.

“This way, we can have some input from the youth and learn from them about their demands.

“For example, a person who is studying in a university and gets elected to head a student union could automatically be appointed senator unless his character disqualifies him.

“The appointments could also include those who are active in well-organised youth groups. With this, we can have a bigger representation of the youth in the Dewan Negara,” he told the newspaper.

Wan Junaidi, who trained in law, said he is also keen on increasing the number of members in the Upper House of Parliament from its current 70.

He said more women should be added, as well as having extra representatives from each state.

“For states, maybe increase the number to three each. For federal territories, perhaps we maintain one representative from Labuan but increase Putrajaya to two and Kuala Lumpur could have three.

“To increase women representation, another provision under the Constitution could be created for this purpose.

“I would like to see more women representatives (in the Upper House),” he was quoted as saying.

Wan Junaidi said the number of women in positions of decision and policy making has not increased although women were dominating many other areas.

The current membership of the Senate consists of 26 members elected by State Legislative Assemblies to represent the 13 states, with each state represented by two members.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, on the advice of the Prime Minister, will appoint 44 members, including two from Kuala Lumpur, and one each from Labuan and Putrajaya.