Raising Political Awareness Among Young Voters a Challenge

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

A woman speaks on Monday (4/8/2019) to an officer at the Central Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD). People that are working on election day, are sick, are serving a prison sentence or are victims of natural disasters may obtain the A5 form on voter registration transfers (TPS) at regional General Elections Commissions (KPUDs) and submit them by April 10.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS —  Young people’s awareness on participating in national politics is evident in the initiatives that are emerging to monitor the 2019 election. However, increasing awareness and political participation among nationwide youths remains a challenge.

Some initiatives in monitoring the 2019 election involve the use of information technology and social media to spread information on the election and raising public interest. One such example is the Teman Rakyat (Friend of the People) movement and its digital initiative, called Unboxing Caleg (Unboxing Legislative Candidates). The initiative aims to explore and publish the candidates’ backgrounds through texts, videos and infographics on the movement’s website, Temanrakyat.id, and its Instagram account @temanrakyat.

Another is the crowd-funded election watchdog, Kawal Pemilu Jaga Suara (KPJS) 2019, which evolved from Kawal Pemilu 2014 and involve youth volunteers. The initiative recruits volunteers online, mainly through social media channels, and publicizes the volunteers’ work on Kawalpemilu.org.

However, even the young people behind these movements face challenges from other youths who do not see a correlation between politics and daily life.

The results of a Kompas R&D poll conducted on April 4-5 and involved 541 respondents in 17 major cities also pointed to the challenges of raising awareness on political participation among young people. Only a third of respondents aged 17-30 years said they were interested in joining an election monitoring group, lower than the 55 percent of respondents aged 31-40 years who indicated their interest in monitoring the election.

Ainun Najib, who cofounded Kawal Pemilu 2014 and KPJS 2019, said in Singapore on Monday (4/8/2019) that Indonesian youths were actually enthusiastic about participating in the 2019 election.

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

A man shows the A5 form on voter registration transfers (TPS) on Monday (4/8/2019) at the Central Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD). The KPU has extended the deadline for A5 forms until April 10, 2019, in accordance with a recent Constitutional Court decision. The court reviewed Article 210, Paragraph 1 of Law No. 7 on the general elections, which concerns the deadline for TPS, and decided to extend the deadline to seven days before election day on April 17.

What about apolitical youths? “It’s like looking at a product. The political products on offer may not be attractive to youths, so they are not interested. This is actually a criticism of political parties and the electoral process,” said Ainun.

Apart from community initiatives, the General Elections Commission (KPU) has also used social engineering through the Relawan Demokrasi (Volunteers of Democracy) project to increase voter participation. The KPU project recruits young people to spread information on the 2019 election. However, many volunteers often find it difficult to raise interest among other youths in the election.

Jakarta-based volunteer Sri Fatimah, 20, said that many youths were uninterested in politics. She found that few students at her university knew that a general election would be held on April 17.

Lacking exemplary figures

Several factors have contributed to the rise of political apathy among youths. In addition to disappointment in the electoral process, some youths said that there were no exemplary figures among the political elite.

Bangun Negerikoe movement founder Suryo A.B. said that this could cause youths to become reluctant about participating in the election, including voting.

With the dearth of exemplary figures among the political elite, youth groups had an important role to play in setting examples. Chairman Sunanto of Pemuda Muhammadiyah, the youth wing of Muhammadiyah, the nation’s second largest Islamic organization, said that young people were actually enthusiastic about becoming involved in politics, and they just needed the space to do so.

“Our peers at Pemuda Muhammadiyah, for instance, are happy to volunteer in KPJS 2019. We will talk to our members about this movement. If [it is] approved, we can encourage our [members] in the field to participate,” he said.

Executive director Aditya Perdana of the University of Indonesia’s Center of Political Studies said that political participation of youths was high, but that this was often seen in the use of new digital forms in line with technological advancements. However, such forms of youth activism often encountered challenges in outreach and expanding. In addition to the gap in information access, these movements also faced the passive attitudes of other youths. (REK/AGE/INK/EDN)