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Youth Parliament Battles Apathy
Gabriela Andrei
A group of young activists is creating a new organization in Romania, which aims to combat political apathy among young people. The Youth Parliament, a non-partisan body, will be born on May 31.
Even before May 31, its members were taking an active part in the May 19 referendum on the status of suspended President Traian Basescu. “The Youth Parliament will send observers to the referendum on May 19,” said Anca Popa who leads one of the organization’s regional committees in Bucharest. Interviewed three weeks before the vote, she said members would join other activists in watching the poll, after the Central Electoral Bureau cleared the way for observers to take part.
The Youth Parliament had also planned a campaign to inform youngsters about the referendum and encourage those of age to vote but could not get organized in time. Economics student Dragos Sârbu, 19, a member of the parliament, said there was an urgent need for young Romanians to get more involved in politics. “In 2004 the number of the youngsters that voted was very low – higher than usual, but still low. I’ve heard a lot of colleagues and friends saying that they won’t go and vote because they have no idea what’s going on and because they just don’t care. I want to change that.”
With the slogan “Rejuvenate Romania,” the new organization aims to air problems the young generation faces. “Firstly we want to give a voice to the young. We want to bring them to the same table and make them define the problems, deliberate about them and find solutions,” said Andrei Stoian, co-coordinator of the Youth Parliament.
“We will try to find answers — answers that will be shaped into statements and legislation that we will forward to the Romanian Parliament.” Stoian is a 22 year-old politic science student at the University of Bucharest and in the past four years he has been in a lot of associations. He is also President of the Politic Studies Students’ Association and Vice-President of the University of Bucharest Student’s Association.
Across Europe, there is a network of 32 associations and organizations that run under the name of The European Youth Parliament (EYP). Founded in 1987, it has evolved into a forum designed to engage young people aged 16 to 21 in the building of their future. The EYP works in national meetings and three major international sessions. Romania also has an EYP affiliate founded in 1996 based in Oradea. Stoian said the two groups were different. “Our project is designed to be national,” he said, while the EYP acts regionally.
“The Youth Parliament is an non-partisan forum, designed for discussion, action and pressure,” said Razvan Popescu, who leads another of the group’s committees. “There will be 350 deputies from all over the country and all the sectors of the capital and 46 assemblies that will name the deputies. The assemblies will create law projects that will reach the Romanian Parliament,” he added.
Those who would like to take part in the Youth Parliament should join a local affiliate and send in a resume. Asked why it took so long to create such a forum in Romania, Stoian said: “We wanted to do things the German way, not the Romanian way. We wanted to bring a viable and strong project to the media.”
Organizers said there was strong interest in their activities among European officials in Brussels. The founders hope their proposals will find approval from the Romanian Parliament. “We are 350 young people that support this project and we can’t be ignored,” Stoian said. “We are the young generation; we are part of the present, not of the future. We have to get involved in the present and we need to change it. The Romanian Parliament will surely support us”.
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