Political parties can set up branches in public universities after the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA) is amended, Education Minister Maszlee Malik said.

Maszlee said the amendments were in line with the proposed lowering of voting age to 18 years.

“With the changes in UUCA, there will be a Barisan Nasional Undergraduates Club in public universities, a Pakatan Harapan Club, a Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Club and other clubs, like in the developed countries.

“This is in line with the lowering of voting age which we will propose. If it is lowered to 18 years, students will be free to take part in politics, they can nominate from among themselves, they can vote,” he said.

Maszlee said this when winding-up the debate on the Mid-Term Review of the 11th Malaysia Plan for his ministry during the Dewan Rakyat sitting yesterday.

The minister was replying to a supplementary question from Noor Amin Ahmad (Harapan-Kangar), who wanted to know if the ministry had agreed to allow political parties to set up branches in public universities.

However, he said, this was only applicable to public universities which came under the UUCA.

“There are two universities that do not come under UUCA, which are UiTM (Universiti Teknologi Mara) and UIA (International Islamic University Malaysia),” Maszlee said. - Bernama