Youth political participation a necessity — Bani Mustafa

AMMAN — Minister of State for Legal Affairs Wafa Bani Mustafa said that the participation in public affairs is “neither a luxury nor an option, but a basic necessity”.

During her speech during a session held by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) on Wednesday under the title “The Importance of Youth Involvement in Partisan and Political work: A vision for the future”, Bani Mustafa emphasised that the political modernisation system seeks to give political ownership to youth for participation in public affairs.

“My message to the youth is to always be active, young people are not only tools in the political process, but they are the true partners,” Bani Mustafa said.

“We want young people to participate in the creation of political parties and to develop programmes, plans and ideas which will improve existing and emerging parties,” she continued.

Bani Mustafa said that the outcome of the political modernisation system is “a glimmer of hope” and opens the door for young people.

“There is a great responsibility on the shoulders of youth, as they are the change makers for the future not only for themselves but for the whole country,” Bani Mustafa added.

Achieving what is required in the next stage requires motivating and integrating a larger number of people in general, and youth specifically, into political work and public affairs. 

“Jordanian youth must realise that their avoidance of public affairs does not serve them or their causes,” Bani Mustafa noted.

“Solving problems, whether economic, political, or social such as unemployment and others is in the hands of young people’s opinions and visions,” she added.

The Lower House recently discussed the electoral and political party bills, which are considered essential in enhancing the political participation of women, youth and people with disabilities in the future.

The event included a panel discussion involving MPs and government officials where they discussed the importance of involving youth in the political work in the Kingdom, and emphasised the need to increase young people’s participation in political parties.

Nidal Bataineh, former minister of labour, emphasised that youth leaders work for the future.

“Our upcoming parties must be youthful, pragmatic and democratic,” Bataineh said during the panel discussion, noting that “we need youth to be partners from the start to set policies and programmes”.

Bataineh warned youth of “fake political parties”, as it is a problem which exists and will continue to exist in the future.

“Political awareness is important, and we cannot wait for the Ministry of Education to create new curricula from first grade until university to graduate politically educated students, as it takes time. We are currently doing Training of Trainers (ToT) courses to teach youth about politics which will build to bigger things later on,” Bataineh continued.

Abdallah Khawaldeh, a 26-year-old Jordanian who attended the discussion, noted that the government needs to involve young people in all aspects of politics and decision making as “young people are the ones who go through the issues”.

Khawaldeh demanded the government not limit participation to the political elite, alongside expanding the political engagement of women and youth.