IPOH: Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Saarani Mohamad says the state’s political landscape has changed with the younger generation finding it more attractive and restoring their faith in democracy.
“The current political landscape has changed, the proposal to lower the minimum legal voting age from 21 to 18 in the country has also been approved,” he said.
Saarani added that it was important to have mature politics as they were aware the younger generation has been demanding for changes in politics.
“We understand the way youth’s think compared to the senior ones, which is totally different,” he told reporters after handing over assistance to Perak-born students affected by the Covid-19 pandemic at Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan, here, today.
Saarani added that in his recent 2021 Perak Budget speech, he made a special announcement on the allocation of RM200,000 for each 59 state assemblymen including the opposition.
“This is among the changes that we made. Previously, when the Barisan Nasional (BN) led the state government, whether at the federal of state level, the allocation was for BN assemblymen only. The opposition assemblymen did not get such allocations.
“When Pakatan Harapan (PH) led the state government, they did the same thing where assemblymen from BN and Pas did not get such allocations. The young see this as undemocratic.
“As such, in my recent budget speech, the allocation is not only for government assemblymen but also the opposition,” he said adding that the allocation followed a call made by Sultan Nazrin to ease political tension as it would only victimise the rakyat.- NST