Sarawak polls before Undi18 an act of voter suppression, says MP

PETALING JAYA: Any attempt to hold the Sarawak state election before the implementation of Undi18 and the automatic voter registration (AVR) is a direct act of voter suppression, says Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii.

He said this will be seen as an attempt to suppress the voices of the youth and deprive them of an active role in determining the future direction of Sarawak and Malaysia as a whole.

“With the implementation of Undi18 and AVR, we are looking at more than 1.9 million new eligible voters who would be able to take part in determining the political future of Sarawak,” Yii said in a statement today.

He said the main focus now was to control and manage the Covid-19 situation in the state and to improve health parameters including Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds utilisation, reduce the number of deaths and brought-in-dead (BID) cases, improving contact tracing and quick isolation abilities.

He was commenting on a statement by de facto law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar that the Sarawak state election can be held with the Emergency Ordinance in place as long as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, state governor and chief minister agree to it.

Yii said that youth empowerment must be central to the government’s agenda and that they are not just the leaders of the future but also the leaders of today.

“The harder you try to silence the youth, the louder they will fight back.”

The Emergency, which began on Aug 2 is scheduled to end on Feb 2 next year.

According to the Election Commission’s secretary Ikmalrudin Ishak, the state election must be held within 60 days from the date the emergency proclamation is revoked or annulled.

This means the elections can be held as late as April next year or later if the Emergency is further extended. — Free Malaysia Today