The decision to amend Article 119(1) of the Federal Constitution to reduce the voting age to 18 from 21 was a bipartisan one which was unanimously agreed upon by all MPs and ratified by the Dewan Negara, and thus it needs to be defended by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, said Selangor PKR Youth deputy chief Dzulhilmi Zainol.

He reminded Muhyiddin that on Nov 3, 2020, de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan has stated that the lowering of the voting age to 18 and automatic voter registration were expected to be completed by July 2021.

Dzulhilmi took exception to the remarks of Dewan Negara president Rais Yatim who was reported as saying that the decision to lower the voting age to 18 years starting this July was made hastily.

Rais, who is 79 this year and was first elected to Parliament in 1974, had said during an interview that those aged 18 are not yet ready to fully commit...