PETALING JAYA: The decision of political parties to field younger candidates is the right move, say analysts.
National Council of Professors senior fellow Datuk Dr Jeniri Amir said that now is the best time for parties to start fielding younger fresher faces for their parties -- especially since Undi18 has given a chance for younger voters to vote for who they’d want as their future leaders.
"I am certain that most young voters look forward to younger representatives in politics, especially since they would be best to cater to the expectations and needs of the millennials and Generation Z," he said.
On another note, he said the political arena is filled with older folk, because there was a lack of trust in younger political candidates' capability to lead.
He said most voters looked at the older candidates as highly experienced and ready to lead, as compared to the younger ones who were just starting out.
“The general public and the party people themselves most probably view someone as young as Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman as inexperienced because he is new to the world of politics,” he said.
Universiti Malaya political analyst Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi said it was clear that most of the parties rarely gave way to young people.
"There are old leaders who are willing to open a new party and appoint themselves as party presidents, when it should be opened to the young.
"The highest party leader should be limited to only two terms to lead. The same applies to other positions for no more than two terms.
"In other words, there should be a limit to the number of terms these leaders could hold party positions or cabinet posts," he said.
At the same time, Prof James Chin of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania said Malaysia does not lack young leaders. However, due to party leaders who prefer veteran party members, they are not given a chance.
“Hence, the political party Muda was formed," he said.
He added that older party leaders might worry that if the younger candidates were given a chance, they might challenge them.
"That is the bottom line in Malaysia across all parties - not just the government parties but also the opposition parties as well.
Chin added that unfortunately, a thorough clean up of Malaysian political parties might continue to be a pipe dream as corruption and racism was still a concern.
"This topic has been discussed since the early 1990s yet we have not achieved much, which is sad but the truth.
"I believe nothing can clean up the Malaysian political scene unless they (the parties) are willing to rebuild the country’s politics once again from the ground up," he said.
