KUALA LUMPUR: MCA says it finds the Election Commission’s (EC) statement on allowing 18-year-olds to be fielded as candidates in the Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election confusing.
Its secretary-general, Datuk Chong Sin Woon, said it was baffling because they were barred from voting.
“This is a contradictory and confusing statement.
“We have no issue if the eligible age to contest is lowered to 18 because MCA supported the constitutional amendment.
“If you want to implement the change in the by-election, please do it in total and allow 18-year-olds to vote as well,” he said today.
Yesterday, EC chairman Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun said political parties could field 18-year-old candidates in the Tanjung Piai by-election following amendments to the Federal Constitution.
However, he said, 18-year-olds could not vote because its implementation had not been enforced.
Amendments to Article 47 and Article 119 of the Federal Constitution pertaining to the minimum age of candidates in elections and the minimum voting age received the consent of the King on Sept 4 and were gazetted on Sept 10.
In addition to lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, the amendments also sought to lower the eligible age of electoral candidates to 18, and to enable automatic registration of voters by the EC.