“Those who are older and said to be ‘wiser’ also do not necessarily have more understanding of our political system and the role of state institutions,” the electoral reform group said in a statement.

The voice of the youth, it said, should be respected and taken into account as they were “inheritors of this nation”.

Bersih 2.0 however agreed that civil and political education to expose youths to democratic and electoral issues was a good idea but that it should not be used as an excuse to stop efforts to involve the youth as voters in elections.

“Efforts to educate and involve the people in determining the direction of our country must go hand in hand continuously.”

Earlier today, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said young voters should be responsible, when clarifying an earlier statement where he reportedly said the youth were not ready to cast their ballots.

The deputy youth and sports minister said he merely expressed concern over the issue in the belief that with rights came responsibility.

Wan Fayshal also said youths would need some “form of prior institutionalised political education”.

Dewan Negara president Rais Yatim also recently said the decision to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 had been made hastily by the Pakatan Harapan government.

In 2019, Parliament agreed to amend the Federal Constitution to allow 18-year-olds to vote and stand as candidates in elections. The law was officially gazetted in September 2019.

Bersih 2.0 also said the recent views of these two politicians, both of whom held key government positions, only proved that the Perikatan Nasional did not take the decision of the Dewan Rakyat seriously.