Seated, Teo (centre), Chin (sixth left) and party leaders take a group photo with the participants of the camp.
Teo (third right) presenting a certificate to a participant while others look on.
KOTA KINABALU: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will look into providing a better platform to draw in more participation from young people below the age of 30 to 35.
Its president, Datuk Teo Chee Kang, said the party would study the need to set up another wing under the party, or add in another platform in its existing Youth and Women wings.
“By doing so, we can learn to understand young people and allow them to have an opportunity to get to know about the political developments in the country,” he said.
He noted the age limit for the Youth movement is under 45 years old while there is no age limit for the Women movement.
“We realize that it is difficult to attract the participation of young people under the age of 30 to 35 to join us based on our existing structure. We need to address the structure of our party, we must have a more suitable platform to attract or care for our young voters,” he said after officiating at the closing ceremony of LDP Political Work Camp at Borneo Paradise Resort yesterday.
In the 13th general election (GE13), Teo said some three million of the electorate were first-time voters, with a majority of them aged under 30.
“We are predicting more first-time voters will register to vote in GE14. Adding three million more new voters, there will be six million voters under the age of 30 or 35 (in GE14),” he said.
Teo said young people nowadays have sufficient political awareness to decide which government they wanted.
“Voters under the age of 30 to 35 will determine the results of the next general election,” he pointed out.
Teo said many of the younger generation do not read newspapers but prefer to learn about news on the Internet, blogs or Facebook, which might not be accurate. Hence, he said there was a necessity to provide a better platform by the party to attract young voters.
“We need to be closer to the younger generation to ensure that they get accurate information, and not be influenced by false information on the Internet,” he reiterated.
On a related note, Teo said GE13 was a tough challenge for BN, but the coalition maintained as the ruling government of the country. BN in Sabah has also formed a strong government under the leadership of Chief Minister cum Sabah BN chairman Datuk Seri Musa Aman.
Moving forward, Teo urged LDP Youth and Women to play a more proactive role in the next general election by carrying out preparation work earlier in the constituencies where LDP candidates contested in, as well as work with BN component parties in other constituencies.
Earlier on, Teo thanked party members for giving him, LDP deputy president Senator Datuk Chin Su Phin and other leaders their support since the past four months till the day they received official recognition from the Registrar of Societies (ROS) Malaysia.
After receiving the official recognition from the ROS, Teo said LDP could now start implementing plans that had been decided on as well as executing party related affairs.
On the political work camp, he said the two-day event not only allowed the participants to learn more about LDP’s political goals and structure, but also boosted the exchange of ideas and friendships among party members.