Member Secretary of the Presidential Advisory Council of the Republic of Indonesia (Wantimpres RI), Jan Prince Permata, representing Wantimpres member Dr. H. Soekarwo, SH, and M. Hum, became a speaker in a public dialogue themed “Youth and Politics 2024 between Optimism and Apathy,” which was held by the Branch Leadership Council of the Student Movement Indonesian National Team (DPC GMNI) Pematang Siantar, at the Multipurpose Building of the Pematang Siantar City Government on Saturday (15/7/2023).
In his presentation entitled “Youth, National Challenges, and the 2024 Election,” Jan Prince Permata explained that democracy, including general elections, will have good quality if it has strong legitimacy born from people’s political participation. “In the context of Indonesian democracy today, youth have an important and strategic role in determining whether or not the quality of elections is high or low,” said Jan.
Jan cited data presented by the General Elections Commission (KPU) showing that 52 percent, or 106.36 million, of voters in the 2024 election are under 40 years old. “52 percent belong to the youth group. Consequently, we can conclude that the quality of the 2024 election cannot be separated from youth involvement,” said Jan.
Therefore, Jan appealed to GMNI and other youth and student organizations to be actively involved and participate in realizing democratic, honest, fair, and quality general elections. “History proves that youth and students have always played an important and strategic role in the ups and downs of our nation’s life. I think the 2024 elections will also be like that,” said Jan.
Other speakers in the public dialogue, which was accompanied by the inauguration of the DPC GMNI Pematang Siantar for the 2023–2025 period, were the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights Commissioner Saurlin P. Siagian, Law Lecturer at HKBP University Nomensen Hisar Siregar, GMNI DPP Secretary General M.Ageng Dendy Setiawan, and North Sumatran NGO leader Samulya Surya Indra.
Also present was Mayor of Pematang Siantar Susanti Dewayani, who in her remarks invited GMNI and youth and student organizations in Pematang Siantar City to work hand in hand and work together to contribute to development and the process of institutionalizing democracy for people’s welfare.
This public dialogue was also attended by student and youth representatives from the city of Pematang Siantar, including from the Indonesian Christian Student Movement (GMKI), the Islamic Student Association (HMI), and the Republic of Indonesia Catholic Student Association (PMKRI).
