By Ken Vin Lek
“It is time we put an end to its archaic system when it comes to voter registration,” said Nurul Izzah at a forum organised by online news portal The Nut Graph last night.
“In 1999, as many as 600,000 were denied their right to vote simply because they could not be registered in time for the general election.
"As it is, it takes 11 months from the date of registration for an individual to be qualified as a voter. This needs to be improved with a better system put in place," she added.
"Many MPs in Pakatan Rakyat have launched voter registration drives in the past months in an effort to ensure that those eligible can exercise their right to vote in the next general election.
“The challenge now is for all political parties to win over the youth and get them to register as voters ahead of the next general election.
“I would like to ask Khairy (Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin) to join forces to help in the effort to reform the voter registration system,” said Nurul Izzah.
Khairy, the Rembau MP, was also present at the event. He said voters should be allowed to vote without having to register, as it is a fundamental right of all citizens.
“Voting is a right of all citizens of Malaysia and we should not even ask them to register. They should’ve already been registered automatically in the first place.
“I will take it a step further by asking that the federal constitution be amended so that people can vote without the hassle of having to register,” said Khairy.
Community and national issues
When questioned about what she felt was the public's expectation of an elected MP, Nurul Izzah said it had to be a balance between tackling local community issues and national issues.
“We are expected to care for and understand local issues quite well but also improve and take a stand on national related issues,” said Nurul Izzah.
In a Merdeka Centre poll carried out on May 16, 47% of the respondents felt that the main role of MPs was to voice their constituent’s concerns over national policies while 29% expected them to attend to issues within their constituency (see chart below).
The poll also showed that 43% viewed local councillors as the ones who should be solving issues such as drainage problems, and so on, while only 8% felt that it was an MP’s responsibility.
Nurul Izzah expressed optimism that the Pakatan Rakyat coalition will be sensitive to the people's needs and that it will definitely be around, come the next general election.
“We now have a common voice in the coalition. DAP and PAS have progressively moved towards the centre. We have already found a common stand on issues never thought possible prior to this, such as the use of Kalimah Allah,” she said.
Merit-based system
On the issue of improving women's representation in the labour force, Nurul Izzah said that society has to take into account the problems faced by ordinary women.
"In PKR, we have already recognised the importance of women in the party while in Selangor, we have already implemented a support system to attract women into the labour force.
“It is about ensuring that women contribute to the economy as the majority of the lowest 40% of income earners are mainly women,” she said.
Nurul Izzah also urged for the formation of a national commission for women, citing it as the first step towards a merit-based system in Malaysia.
It has been reported that Malaysia only has 46.3% of women in the workforce as compared to Singapore, which stands at 56%.
An increase of 20% of women involvement in the workforce can bring about an increase in a country’s GDP by as much as 3% to 4%.
About 80 people turned up for the event, which also featured DAP's MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua.
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