Surprising. The number of young politicians who will enter the House of Representatives (DPR) for the 2019-2024 term turned out to be far less than the 2014-2019 term.
Based on the Kompas R&D study, the number of legislative candidates aged 40 years and under who passed to the DPR for the 2019-2024 term is only 72 out of 575 DPR members or 12.5 percent. That number is down compared to the figure in the 2014-2019 term, which stood at 92 people from a total of 560 members of the DPR or 16.4 percent (Kompas, 12/8/2019).
At a time when we are busy discussing the importance of the role of the young generation to face the fast changing world due to the digital revolution, the DPR that represents the people\'s voice is being filled with fewer young politicians. The proportion of the young population in Indonesia is also significant. Based on data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) in 2018, the age group 15-39 reached 40 percent of the 265 million population of Indonesia.
Hopefully the generational disparity should not make the DPR, which has the duty to absorb and fight for the aspirations of the people, lose its role as a magnet. The DPR is deemed irrelevant in the eyes of young people.
The presence of young figures in the DPR or regeneration in the body of political parties has apparently not become a concern of this nation. In fact, looking at other parts of the world there is a striking increase in the role of young people in politics, both in the United States and Europe. In the last midterm election in the United States, Business Insider wrote, there were about 700 millennials who ran for legislative seats. The amount is said to increase by 300 percent.
The story of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 29-year-old young woman who was elected as a member of the US House of Representatives from the Democrats in November 2018, is a phenomenal one. In addition to being the youngest woman in US history to serve as a member of Congress, Ocasio-Cortez dares to fight old traditions. Her campaign did not rely on large corporate donations, but relied on small individual donations.
The spirit of Ocasio-Cortez can be an inspiration for young politicians in Indonesia not to give up. High political costs in elections are frequently mentioned as obstacles for young politicians to compete with senior politicians who have abundant logistical power.
Give me 1,000 old people, I will surely remove Semeru from its roots.
However, we certainly hope that political party leaders will also give affirmations. Placing young politicians as legislative candidates at the top of the serial number on the ballot papers can be one of the ways.
Affirming young politicians does not mean marginalizing senior politicians. "Give me 1,000 old people, I will surely remove Semeru from its roots," said Bung Karno.
However, Bung Karno also said, "Give me 10 youths, I will surely shake the world." Therefore, young politicians must continue to move to bring winds of change, both from within the DPR and outside the DPR.