They said young voters were unpredictable and no political bloc could confidently claim to have their support.

Speaking to FMT, Gerakan Youth deputy chief Andy Yong said he disagreed with Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak, who recently said young voters who once rejected BN were expected to cast their ballots in its favour in the 14th general election.

“It is anyone’s guess who the youths will support,” Yong told FMT.

He said urban youths were generally more politically mature and aware of current issues than their rural counterparts.

Most of them would like to see political reform, he added.

Salleh referred to youths in rural and semi-rural areas to support his argument, but Yong said such voters were likely to remain loyal to the parties they had always supported and to be influenced by their families and the communities they were part of.

DAP Youth representative Farhan Haziq Mohamed said Salleh’s statement came across as conceited and showed him up as unreasonably confident.

“Young voters are unpredictable and political blocs should not be too comfortable thinking they have the youths under their control,” he said.

He also said many youths had yet to register as voters and the government should implement automatic voter registration.

Farhan said the youth wings of Pakatan Harapan parties were committed to gaining the trust of young voters.

“PH youth wings do not take the younger generation for granted,” he said. “We are committed to offering solutions to address issues facing youths, like the high cost of living, low wages and lack of jobs.”

He said youths in general had tuned themselves off from the kind of rhetoric that involved insults of political opponents and racist slurs.

In a recent blogpost, Salleh said his prediction of how youths would vote was based on the results of two by-elections held simultaneously in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar last year.

He also claimed that youths felt more secure and confident under BN rule.