Gen Z And Millennials In Parliamentary Seats: Let's Give Them A Chance

Ahmad Irawan

JAKARTA - Members of the House of Representatives for the 2024-2029 period have started working since October 1, 2024. Many new faces from the millennial generation and Gen Z have graced the parliament building in this period.

For example, Annisa MA Mahesa, who became the youngest member of the DPR for the period 2024-2029. Annisa was even appointed as interim leader during the inauguration of the DPR RI for the 2024-2029 period at the Nusantara Building, Senayan Complex, Jakarta, Tuesday (1/10) yesterday.

Even though he is still 23 years old and has not had much experience in the world of politics, this has not made him afraid. Especially since he was in junior high school, Annisa has often been invited to tour the community by his father, the late Desmond Junaidi Mahesa, who is a member of the senior DPR as well as a 1998 activist.

"So as the son of a politician like him, of course we are taught political sciences. From a young age we as children were offered books to read," said Annisa while talking after the inauguration of DPR members for the period 2024-2029.

Icha, as she is usually called, is not worried about being underestimated by her position as Gen Z. Icha who qualified for Senayan from the Banten II electoral district will prove that the younger generation can work well.

"Just do it, we have to be agents of change. It's not a promise to play games, especially as a young generation. Maybe people look down on you, it's okay, we prove it," he said.

Although he does not know what commission will be placed in by the Gerindra faction, this 2001-born woman has a concern on education issues. Especially because the Icha electoral district still has many problems with the gap in education services.

One of the issues that I will echo is equitable education. In Banten II, if by the data I have studied in Serang Regency, there is an educational gap. In Serang City and Cilegon, it is not evenly distributed, "explained Icha.

For this reason, Icha will take advantage of his position in Parliament to help improve the equitable distribution of education services for the community. He is ready to oversee government programs.

"We must encourage appropriate regulations and policies to target our issues, of course, when I am placed in the commission where there is a program, maybe I will encourage allocations to the less equitable education solutions," he explained.

"How to access more inclusive education, job opportunities are also more inclusive," added Icha.

Icha believes that the presence of young legislators will be more relevant in fighting for issues related to the younger generation. This does not mean that senior politicians will ignore it, but he believes that young politicians will better understand the needs of their fellow generations.

"Senior politisi will definitely listen to it but do they understand the details of the relevant issues that we will fight for? Maybe so, but not necessarily it is an issue that is echoed because we are the younger generation," said Icha.

The importance of the participation of the younger generation in the political world was also conveyed by a new member of the DPR, Jamaludin Malik. This young legislator even came to the inauguration wearing an Ultraman superhero costume, the figure he used while campaigning for in the 2024 Legislative Election.

Jamaludin admitted that he used Ultraman figures as a form of creativity, one of which was to attract the interest of the younger generation.

"So that many young people are 'not skeptical', because they apologize, many young people don't care about politics, so that together we build this nation," Jamaludin said on the same occasion.

The DPR member from the Central Java II electoral district also uses a lot of social media platforms that are closely related to the younger generation when providing socialization of their programs. The hope, said Jamaludin, is that the issue of struggle will be easier to the younger generation.

"We are young people, we have creativity, we continue to campaign with social media, when I campaigned I could watch 50 million people. Maybe success in social media made it easier for me to get 120,000 votes," said the millennial generation DPR member.

Salah satu program yang dibawa Jamaludin ke Senayan adalah bantuan hukum door to door bagi masyarakat. Hal tersebut sudah ia lakukan selama ini di tempat asalnya yakni di Jepara.

"We are legal assistance door to door. But because it is already in the DPR, we hope to be able to provide legal assistance by touching many people. I hope that in this DPR I can become a role model for all of Indonesia," said Jamaludin.

Apart from Annisa and Jamaludin, there are also Ahmad Irawan who is ready to carry out his duties as a representative of the people even though he is still 35 years old. He said that millennials or Gen Z were not a matter of numbers but of enthusiasm and hoped that the community would give opportunities for the younger generation to contribute to building the nation, including through legislative institutions.

"Actually, the important thing is that there is something we can do, it can be useful, later let the community judge the breakthrough. Give it a chance first, time is still there and long," said Irawan.

The legislator from the East Java V electoral district has not been able to talk much about the breakthroughs he will make considering that his faction, the Golkar faction, has not yet given a decision to place the commission he will fill. But Irawan, who is one of the focuses on village affairs, has the passion to build Indonesia through parliamentary seats.

"Anyway, millennials are not a problem with age but a matter of spirit, right," concluded the man from Malang.