KUALA LUMPUR: Research shows that there is room to improve in terms of youth participation and representation in nation building processes in the country.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said based on research entitled ‘Youth Participation in National Parliaments 2016’ by Inter-Parliamentary Union, Malaysia had only 10.8% Members of Parliament (MPs) participation who were under the age of 40.

Furthermore, he said, the same research found Malaysia had only 4.8% members of the Upper House of Parliament who were under the age of 40.

“Based on the same finding, recent elections have seen a global trend towards more young MPs aged under 45.

“Youth quotas, lower eligibility ages, proportional representation and inclusive parliaments are all factors that increase the number of young MPs,” said Salleh in his speech at the National Aspiration & Leadership Summit 2018 (NALS 2018) held at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here, today.

Also present were Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) president Tunku Zain Al-‘Abidin Tuanku Muhriz, Umno Youth exco Ibdilillah Ishak and NALS 2018 director Ahmad Muzammil Idris.

Salleh said therefore, Malaysia needed to have more youths to be represented and to ensure their voices were heard.

“The government of the day continuously promote initiatives in empowering youths towards leaderships to ensure a better future that is able to meet the accelerated pace of economic development and the disruptive nature of the environment,” he said.

Themed “Youth Arise: Mapping the Ideal Malaysia”, NALS 2018 sets a platform for participants to engage in dialogue sessions with prominent leaders, public figures and youth leaders across Malaysia.

In its sixth instalment, the biggest youth summit saw the involvement of over 3,000 participants from within and outside the country, young working professionals and non-governmental organisations. — Bernama

First published in The Sun Daily, on 4 February, 2018.