The EC chief acknowledged his organisation's failure in raising public awareness on the importance of voting despite numerous campaigns.[1] Rather than blaming the people, he should act to redress the matter.
He must also be truthful to himself and the Malaysian people, and not be selective on the reason behind those failures. One of the key contributory factors for the people's reluctance to register as voters, is their lack of confidence towards the EC. It cannot be denied that the EC has both the ruling regime and itself to blame on this.
The EC does not need to make voter registration compulsory, but to automatically admit all qualified citizens into the electoral roll. This can happen well within constitutionality by implementing an automatic application, approval and admission into the electoral roll for qualified citizens. It is purely a matter of technocratic and political will by the EC and the ruling regime. The oft quoted constitutional issue does not arise.
In the spirit of democracy, and to overcome the claimed democratic apathy amongst the youth, the voting age should be expanded to 18 year olds and above. If an 18 year old patriot can choose to serve his or her own nation by enlisting in the army, he or she should also be able to choose who to govern the country.
Pakatan has long called for the EC to make it easier for the people especially the youth, to exercise their democratic right. I call for the EC chief to stop blaming the people for its own failures and start stepping up to the plate in being a truly independent institution, by freeing itself from the shackles of Barisan Nasional's agenda.
He can start by throwing his support behind automatic admission into the electoral roll, and acknowleding the extension of voting age to 18 years old.