Affirmative Action Required

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JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Affirmative action is needed to encourage many more young people to take the plunge into politics. This can be achieved especially by promoting political recruitment focused on youth and by giving them more opportunities to be actively involved in parties’ internal activities prior to running for public office.

Such affirmative action is necessary as Kompas research shows that of the 575 lawmakers in the 2019-2024 period, only 72 are younger than 40 years old. Of these 72 people, 36 have a family relationship with local and party elites, while 25 are incumbents who secured reelection.

This is worse than the proportion lawmakers in the 2014-2019 period, where 92 out of 560 were younger than 40 years old. This decrease in young lawmakers must be a point of concern as global developments such as Industry 4.0 require the increased involvement of youth. Many would also hope that youth could refresh national politics.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) ideology and recruitment division head Djarot Saiful Hidayat said on Monday (12/8/2019) that the biggest obstacle facing potential young lawmakers on their way to the House of Representatives was fierce competition, not only with candidates from other parties but also between candidates in the same party.

Young legislative candidates without relatives already in politics must have strong finances to compete with senior politicians. Djarot said that this was a result of the open proportional election system, where winners are determined by the number of votes.

“The party has already promoted young potential legislative candidates. However, they cannot make it due to the open election system. They are good but are overwhelmed by reality on the ground,” Djarot said.

Opportunity

Djarot said that the PDI-P had already provided space for young politicians to compete in legislative elections, despite having no explicit quota as a form of affirmative action. PDI-P legislative candidates take part in the party’s training routinely as part of the party’s recruitment program.

Other than through legislative elections, the PDI-P also provides space for young politicians to become regional head candidates. Through regional elections, the PDI-P is committed to regeneration and promoting new figures, such as Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini and National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) head Hasto Wardoyo. In 2020, 270 regions will hold elections.

Other parties, such as the Democratic Party, provide space for young members in their structures. Democratic Party deputy secretary general Renanda Bachtar said the party’s structure following the 2020 congress would provide plenty of space for young politicians.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s two sons, namely Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono and Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, will be the focus. “There will be many strategic changes in the party. Many young people will enter the party’s structure. From 2020 to 2024, youth will be dominant in our structure,” Renanda said.

Gerindra Party lawmaker Budi Djiwandono said that party chairman Prabowo Subianto paid special attention to young legislative candidates. “Pak Prabowo often says that it’s important for Gerindra to promote potential young candidates,” Budi said.

However, he continued, his party had yet to have any affirmative policies to support younger legislative candidates. For instance, in terms of financing political campaigns, Budi said that young politicians often found it difficult to finance their own campaigns. “In the future, I think it will be good if a quota of 10-20 percent goes to young politicians,” he said.

National Mandate Party (PAN) executive Viva Yoga Mauladi said that political parties had a huge responsibility to promote young members, including in the list of legislative candidates. The Election Law need not require political parties to achieve a greater number of young legislative candidates, like it does for female candidates. “Affirmative action for young legislative candidates is not necessary. Political parties should have internal policies to do so,” Viva said.

National Awakening Party (PKB) young politician Nihayatul Wafiroh said that recruitment and training should be natural. Young politicians need comprehensive education before taking the plunge into realpolitik.

As for affirmative action, what is needed is not to set specific quotas for young people in party structures or legislative candidate lists, like the 30-percent quota for women in legislative candidate lists. What is necessary is affirmative action to boost recruitment and training for young politicians.

“More young politicians should be active in parties but the process cannot be instant. There must not be any special quota for young politicians that does not regulate their competence aspects. Let the process occur naturally,” Nihayatul said. (AGE/EDN/NTA)

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