Malaysia general elections: Will lowering the voting age to 18 be a game-changer?

Supporters of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, in Tambun, November 5, 2022. AP - JohnShen Lee

Text by: Gabrielle Maréchaux Follow

3 mins

Malaysia has entered an election period to renew its parliament and its Prime Minister.

And if until then, Malaysia was one of the very few countries to allow voting only from the age of 21.

From now on, citizens will be able to vote from the age of 18.

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from our correspondent in Kuala Lumpur,

These young people arouse the desire of the various parties, but also a lot of questions, because it remains difficult to know how they will position themselves politically.

Because Malaysia remains a very divided country, in particular by the different ethnic groups and religions of the country.

One of the unknowns of this election is therefore whether young people are as fragmented as society, or whether they have their own interests and ideals which will appear in their vote.  

“ 

says political science researcher James Chin

Aging political class

In addition to 18-21 year olds, the country will most certainly see many other new voters on the move as, for the first time, citizens are automatically registered on the electoral lists.

The country thus has 6 million new potential voters and now the majority of them are under 40 years old.

But the headliners of the main parties are generally much older.  

If, at the level of certain constituencies, efforts have been made to replace outgoing deputies with younger candidates, all the contenders for the post of Prime Minister are old hands in politics, with

, former Prime Minister who is running for re-election at the age of 97.

Among his opponents are also another former prime minister, the incumbent prime minister, and the perennial opposition leader in Malaysian political life, Anwar Ibrahim.

And this lack of renewal of an aging political class, often pinned down in the past in various scandals of political treason or corruption cases, does not necessarily play in favor of a great commitment of Malaysian citizens in the run-up to the election. .

And if, despite everything, Malaysian citizens were all very motivated to vote, it is also possible that it will be complicated for them to go to the polls.

First, because the date of these elections was decided by the outgoing government ignoring concerns related to the flood season, which is beginning in the country, and which could prevent some from going to vote.

Then, because the date of this election was also fixed in a very short time, which already poses many logistical problems, with, for example, train or plane tickets which are sometimes very

for all those who would like to enter their constituencies. 

►Also read: early legislative elections scheduled for November 19 in Malaysia

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