MCA Youth chief Nicole Wong said it had called on the government to implement the decision at its recent annual meeting.

“We were never afraid. In fact, we are waiting for it as we believe that the youth will reject politicians who are focused on slandering and smearing the reputation of others,” she said in a Facebook post.

Wong was responding to a claim by DAP senator Liew Chin Tong that MCA was afraid of young voters.

Liew had also posted a link to a news article which quoted her as saying an influx of young voters would pose a challenge.

Wong said Liew had attempted to give the impression the wing was afraid of the Undi 18 bill and had rejected it.

She labelled DAP a “serial slanderer”, adding that the opposition party had often resorted to such tactics.

The Undi 18 bill, officially known as Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019, was passed by the Dewan Negara in July 2019 and gazetted two months later, but has not been implemented.

The Election Commission had said the implementation of the 18-year-old voting age and automatic voter registration would be carried out from July this year.

Two days ago, Dewan Negara president Rais Yatim said it was impractical to lower the voting age to 18 for now because of time-consuming obstructions faced by the relevant agencies in implementing it.

He said it would take time to come up with the list of 18-year-olds eligible to vote and the constituencies they come from.