The law should be amended to allow more young people to run for elections and participate in parliamentary affairs, said the youngest member of the Federal National Council.
Saeed Al Remeithi, who is also the president of the IPU Forum for Young Parliamentarians, said a recent IPU report showed that, out of 45,000 parliamentarians across the world, only 1.9 per cent are aged between 18 and 30.
Countries’ policies in support of young political participation make a difference. Mr Al Remeithi cited Sweden, Finland, Norway and Ecuador as having a 10 per cent youth participation in their parliaments.
"If a person can get married at 18, or enter the army, why not have the right to vote or run for elections?" the 32-year-old said during a panel discussion between youth officials and students at the Global Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament on Tuesday.
"So there should be a change in some legislation in countries to enable the youth to participate."
Youths are often distracted by other life challenges, such education and searching for jobs, "but it is important to engage them during their early stages of life in order to shape the future".
"In most countries, young political participation is weak. And it depends on the economic situation of each country," Mr Al Remeithi said.
"We have many initiatives with the United Nations and IPU to increase the number – in the last conference we organised for youth on the margins of the global parliamentary conference, the number of youth participants increased to 70. In the beginning there were only 25."
He also referred to a recent "Not too young to run" campaign that was launched by the UN. "Many young people hesitate to join, so we try to create a passion for political participation in youngsters," said the FNC member for Abu Dhabi.
"There is a gap between local parliaments and their youth, so strategies should be set to bridge that gap."
In the UAE, the minimum age to run for the FNC is 25 and only members of the electoral college, which is selected by the government, are eligible to run or vote.
Jacobo Garcia, president of the Global Youth Leadership Forum, said before talking about youth participation in parliament, they should be involved in discussions about future challenges and issues with members of parliament.
"We often talk about the rights of youth but what we should be addressing today are their responsibilities," he said.
Challenges with employment was another main topic for panellists, with the fact that unemployment among young people in Spain, for example, has reached as high as 55 per cent.
"Thanks to cell phones any jobs that used to be popular are now in decline but hopefully since they [young people] are experts in using it, they will find new related jobs," said Alya Al Jassim, an FNC member.
Mr Al Remeithi said young people should treat challenges as opportunities, using the example of when he ran for office using the Snapchat social media platform as his campaign medium.
"It was a big challenge to reach parliament that way but it was the only method I had to hand, and I used it. So there are many hidden chances that should be used."
Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister, pointed to Mr Al Remeithi as an example of someone seeking opportunities during his presentation on Monday.
According to Guillaume Sylvain, a student at New York University Abu Dhabi, tolerance in recruitment is key.
"I think employment is key. If we are talking about the youth who don’t feel accepted in their communities, they feel held back," he said.
"So I think this happens the same way that a young Muslim woman would like to wear what she wants when working in Canada, so we have to think about how we talk about tolerance in a way that is inclusive."

Source: The National