SIBU: Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) will draw up strategies and work harder in the next few months to get closer to young people who will be voting for the first time in the 15th General Election, says its vice-president Dr Annuar Rapaee.

       He said the implementation of Undi18 called for a different approach by political parties as new voters aged 18 needed to be engaged more frequently and consistently compared to the older group.

       “It is not difficult to convince them of our plans because they are actually very receptive to what is happening around them,” Bernama quoted him as saying at a media appreciation night here on Thursday.A Federal Government gazette, dated Dec 1, 2021, stated that the automatic registration of voters aged 18 and above came into force on Dec 15 the same year.

       Dr Annuar, a three-term Nangka assemblyman, is thankful for retaining the seat in the recent Sarawak state election with a majority of more than 10,000 votes.

       “The recent election was very different because it was not easy to meet voters in person due to the tight standard operating procedure in place.

       “For PBB, our strength had been house-to-house campaigns, so the SOP made it difficult for us to tell them of our plans,” he said.

       “Although we had online campaigning, we were unsure of its effectiveness as not everyone has Internet access.”