Relevant Political Parties

Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan

The symbols of political parties participating in the 2019 General Election are depicted on a wall in the Gandaria area, Jakarta, Sunday (24/10/2021). Young people hope that the actions of political parties can really be felt in the community, not only for electoral interests.

Political parties have already begun consolidating ahead of the 2024 general elections. Currently, the greatest challenge for the parties is to be relevant to the needs of the people.

Relevance will be key as there will be changes in the characters of voters. Around 60 percent of voters in the 2024 general elections will be made up of Generation Y (millennials), born between 1980 and 1996 and Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2010.

Gen Y and Z are characteristically different from their predecessors, the Baby Boomers and Generation X. Because of Gen Y and Z’s high exposure to technology, their worries and needs are reflected in what they search for online.

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Google’s “Year in Search 2021: What is Indonesia Searching for this Year?”, shows that Indonesian internet users on Google mostly searched things related to Covid-19 and Pre-Employment Cards this year. Meanwhile, Kantar’s Media Trends and Prediction 2022 and Nielsen Indonesia’s research found that 83 percent of Indonesians liked to watch online videos (Kompas.id, 10/12/2021).

Several other studies showed that nowadays young people pay great attention to issues of climate change, the earth’s future and transparency.

As one way to remain relevant, political parties must address these issues. This cannot only be achieved by placing Gen Y and Z in management positions in a political party, or simply by including them in a list of prospective legislative candidates. Political parties must come up with concrete steps to address said issues, such as how they can help in overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic or how they can provide employment and fight corruption to support transparency.

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Flags of political parties participating in the 2019 Simultaneous Elections at Jalan Kramat Raya, Senen, Central Jakarta, Tuesday (5/3/2019).

Digital footprints will expose which political parties are genuinely trying to be relevant to Gen Y and Z and which are only doing it for an image.

The commitments of political parties to remain relevant to Gen Y and Z will not only open greater opportunities for success in the upcoming 2024 elections but will also shape the responsibility to maintain the continuity of democracy in this country. The very existence of political parties is a requirement for a democracy and the level of the people’s participation in the elections also contributes to the success of a democracy. Having relevant political parties around will encourage voters to come to the polling station and cast their votes during the election.

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Although it was not as high as during the 1999 elections, an increase in voter turnout was seen during the 2019 elections – reaching more than 90 percent – compared with the previous election. With today’s political parties’ efforts for consolidation, such as holding cadre education programs, there is hope that the voter turnout will increase again during the 2024 elections.

However, it is hoped that the increase in turnout will not be because of pressure or manipulation, such as through an authoritarian government or the use of black campaigns to polarize the community, but because political parties are becoming increasingly relevant to the needs of the people and are worthy of being elected.

This article was translated by Kesya Adhalia.