Young Voters Seen As Crucial In Sabah Polls

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A political analyst says those in their 20s will have an impact on this month’s Sabah election. (Bernama pic)KOTA KINABALU: Khairul Anuar Mudin has some definite ideas about how he will vote in the Sabah election on Sept 26
The 28-year-old entrepreneur from Kota Belud said a criterion he would use would be the number of fresh faces fielded by the contesting parties
“I want to see if the parties are willing to field younger candidates, not just in my constituency, but in others as well,” he told FMT
He said he would be drawn to political parties fielding a good number of candidates who would understand issues affecting people of his generation
Lee Kuok TiungPolitical analyst Lee Kuok Tiung of Universiti Malaysia Sabah said those in their early 20s were bound to have an impact on the polls as there were large numbers of them remaining in Sabah due to the Covid-19 pandemic
Many Sabahans studying in colleges and universities in the peninsula as well as those who worked there before being laid off are now in their hometowns
Lee said fraternising with this category of voters would, however, require political parties to do more than just field young candidates
“It’s not an issue for parties to field older candidates provided they are comfortable mingling with youths and truly understand their aspirations,” he said
He also said people would likely stay away from gatherings or ceramah for fear of contracting Covid-19 and political parties would therefore have to tap into social media to get their messages across to the IT-savvy generation
“Those who do so effectively can sway these voters,” he said
Other observers agreed, with several saying the contending parties would have to do more than just issue statements to the press in the hope that these would find their way online or in print media
“All youths have handphones,” said one observer. “Many will only read news items that are pushed to them via social media such as WhatsApp
“To be heard, parties need to work on getting their messages out on these platforms.” - FMT

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