KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri M. Saravanan admits that it was not easy to win over the hearts and minds of youth using political "tickets" in the 15th General Election (GE15) on Nov 19.
The MIC deputy president said the youth, especially those aged 18 and above, were very mature and could differentiate good and bad, especially in choosing a candidate of calibre who will be victorious in GE15.
"Youth can evaluate between right and wrong, they can see what happened during GE14 and I believe they will make their best decision and help stabilise the government based on their votes,” he said as a guest on the Ruang Bicara program broadcast by Bernama TV entitled "Festival of Lights during Election", on Monday (Oct 24).
The Human Resources Minister said MIC was aware not all youth were into politics directly, so the party established the National MIC Brigade to get closer to the youth and help guide them towards better things.
It indirectly gave youth a chance to get close with welfare programmes and assistance to the needy besides being involved in politics.
On challenges faced during GE15, he admitted that social media was the biggest challenge to overcome as it was very influential.
"During GE14, social media was usually focused on viral messages on WhatsApp and today, we see it has shifted towards TikTok.
"Social media is the main challenge for GE15, and it is also a medium that will play an important role in the future,” Saravanan said, adding that the government had to dissolve Parliament and call for elections due to a lack of political stability.
"Although the government took various initiatives to restore the economy post-Covid-19, our constraint was the lack of political stability.
"Because of that, it directly caused concerns among investors. Now voters need to help us to maintain political stability. We should not repeat history by changing (prime ministers) several times in a single term,” he added. - Bernama
