While welcoming the announcement by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad that a youth representative will be appointed as senator, a youth group says that one representative is not enough.

“We would like to greatly thank the Pakatan Harapan government for its concern and commitment in ensuring this country’s youths can achieve their maximum potential.

“However... we would like to take this opportunity to urge the government to do more to ensure sufficient involvement from the youths in matters of administration in this country," said Federal Territories PKR Youth chief Na’im Brundage in a statement today.

“We are of the opinion that it is unreasonable for more than 11 million citizens aged between 15 to 35 years old to be represented by one Dewan Negara member only,” said 

This 11 million young people, he said, represented more than one-third of the country’s 32 million population.

Many youths, Na’im added, are facing issues stemming from the lackadaisical attitude from the previous government towards the young.

As such, the Federal Territories PKR Youth hopes the government will review the quota for youths in the Senate, he said.

“We are sure that sufficient involvement of youths in the country’s legislative process is one of the keys to solving the various problems faced by the youths themselves,” he said.

Mahathir had yesterday announced that the government has agreed to appoint a youth representative as a senator.

"We will ensure that the voice of the younger generation will always be given attention and consideration in every process of government decision-making at all levels – district, state, national and international.

“The focus and priority in developing the young generation through various initiatives will continue to be implemented and empowered by the government,” he had said when launching the National Youth Day 2019 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia last night.