Some youngsters sceptical about being given the vote

Sixteen-year-olds may be too young to vote, a number of young people told The Times yesterday when asked about Labour Leader Joseph Muscat's proposal to lower the voting age on a trial basis in local elections.

Dr Muscat wrote in his opinion column in The Times yesterday that it is high time to further empower young people, adding that local council elections would be the ideal testing ground for a progressive policy which lowers the voting age by two years. He said the aim would be to strengthen our democracy.

"I think that the rejuvenation of our electorate and the direct participation of more young people will lead to less partisan and more sensible politics. Young people have fewer preconceptions and want a more objective debate."

Contacted yesterday, Junior College Students Council president Adam Karl Farrugia pointed out that giving 16-year-olds the vote would be like granting additional votes to parents.

Younger teenagers, he argued, would be more likely to vote as their parents do, lacking the maturity or background to make their own political decisions.

"In a democracy, one's voting power should not depend on the number of children one has," he said.

The proposal by Dr Muscat should be analysed thoroughly and only introduced if it is found to be helpful for democracy, he added.

His concerns were echoed by a number of youngsters.

Beppe Degiorgio, 16, said people his age would only mirror their parents in their voting patterns.

"At 16, you don't really know what you like in life, let alone who to vote for," he said. Gianella Xerri, who will turn 16 next month, said although lowering the voting age may be a good idea, it might also be risky.

"While young people should have a say in politics, I don't think people my age are mature enough to take such decisions and are more prone to be influenced, especially by their parents."

Another teenager, Nikol Pulis, believes the voting age should remain as it is, arguing that 16-year-olds are still too young to vote.

"At 18, people tend to be more educated and more mature," she said.

Younger people are more likely to be biased and rather than form an opinion, would vote in the same way their parents do.

"Older people are more likely to be open-minded," she said.

However, she continued, if the voting age were to be lowered, she would vote since she believes it would be her duty to do so.

On the other hand, the Nationalist Party's Youth Movement is in favour of lowering the voting age for local council elections. MŻPN president Mathieu Cilia said the council had discussed the issue earlier this year.

In fact, MŻPN spokesman Frank Psaila had written in an opinion piece in The Times in March saying that young people usually lose interest in politics because they feel useless in their role as political spectators.

It was unacceptable, he wrote, that while 16- and 17-year-olds pay taxes, they cannot decide what their money should be used for.

Alternattiva Demokratika, the Green Party said it had made the proposal last February and the party would be repeating it in its position paper on local councils' reform which will be presented to the government shortly.

Party spokesman Robert Callus said involving young people in the democratic process earlier would make them feel they are contributing in a more direct manner to the country's democratic development.

Both the Local Councils Association and the University Students Council (KSU) said they would be evaluating the proposal.