WE ARE - THE FUTURE, MR SPEAKER

Nipuni Wimalapala

Youth Parliament

Arrival of the Speaker

Some of the members of the Youth Parliament

Parliamentary members taking oath

Director General of NYSC,Lalith Pium Perera,the Monitoring MP for Youth Affairs and Skills Development Ministry,Mohan Lal Grero, Secratary of Sri Lanka Youth Club Federation,Saman Ranaweera and Working Director of NYSC,Milinda Rajapaksha going to attend the Youth parliament

Inside view of the Youth Parliament

The Youth Parliament is not a novel concept. It has been operational in many countries for years. In Sri Lanka, it has been doing well for the past two years. The entire work is done by the National Youth Services Council (NYSC) which comes under the Youth Affairs and Skills Development Ministry. Since NYSC is the foremost governing body related to the youth affairs, it fully monitors and undertakes the total work of the Youth Parliament.

The key figure of the Youth Parliament, Prime Minister Sihan Dhammika Jayasinghe, speaking to the Daily News, stressed that Youth Parliament is a concept to create a solid platform for youth to become stable leaders in every area who are capable of involving in policymaking and decision-making. Jayasinghe is a graduate of the Colombo University and has completed law studies at Sri Lanka Law College. He is a multi talented leader with a novel vision.

Comparatively more democratic

"Youth parliament concept is a worldwide one which was started years ago. But in Sri Lanka, this is the first time we carried out such a large scale perfect one. Even though there are many internationally recognised youth parliaments such as Commonwealth Youth Parliament and European Youth Parliament consist selected members. But in our case, all of us are elected members. So I proudly say that this is the only youth parliament in the world which is entirely consisted of elected members under a very democratic basis," Jayasinghe explained.

Describing the selection procedure, he mentioned that the process is very democratic and it makes sure that every part of the country and every community is given the opportunity to represent while balancing the gender. In the first session, any member of a youth federation representing a particular divisional secretariat was able to come up as a candidate and the members of that particular division were supposed to vote the candidates. The one who got the highest number of votes became the representation of the particular division in the youth parliament.

An overall representation

According to him, there are 332 divisional secretariats in Sri Lanka. One member from each divisional secretariat was elected and finally there were 332 members in the parliament. Another three members were selected through the National List to represent the indigenous youth, disabled youth and an ethnic group which is unable to represent in the normal procedure. All together the final number of the parliament is 335. From them, the Prime Minister was selected after going through many interviews considering all the academic and extracurricular activities of the members by the Advisory committee. The Prime Minister remains the head of the parliament who represents the parliament in both national and international arena.

Prime Minister, Sihan Jayasinghe Wasundara Kariyawasam

There are 13 Ministers in the youth parliament who were selected by the advisory committee after observing their presentation skills and other capabilities.

Within the parliament, there are two parties. One is the Governing party and the other one is the Opposition which are selected randomly. Speaker of the parliament is elected within the members of the parliament as it is really done in the National Parliament. An opposition leader is also selected.

Prime Minister's role

Jayasinghe being the Prime Minister said that his role is certainly a complex one in many ways. He is the one who works as the head of the governing party where he is supposed to give the leadership in every related matter. And he is the representing body of the youth parliament when it functions as a concept and in international conferences. He is hundred percent authorised to involve in any matter related to the youth parliament as well.

Sports Minister,Kusala Kumara Fernando

According to him, the Youth Parliament is a place, where a youth can come up as a young leader depends on his or her capabilities and self confidence. There is no influence but talents are given the priority. A youth can gain much through this personally and can contribute to the youth of the country in many ways. Many members of the youth parliament have been representing the country in different international summits and conferences enhancing youths' exposure to the global scenario which is considered one of the best achievements of the parliament.

Comments from the Youth Ministers'

Kusala Kumara Fernando is the Sports Minister of the youth parliament. He was graduated from Northumbria University (UK) in Leadership and Management in 2010 and currently reading for MBA Degree at Cardiff Metropolitan University (UK) and for the LLB Degree at Open University of Sri Lanka. Fernando is the current Regional Youth Caucus Representative of Sri Lanka of Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP). As well as he was a member of the Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sports in 2011-2012 and, he was the first ever male youth representative of it from all the Comonwealth countries.

He says, "Youth Parliament is exactly a proper leadership training through which a youth can excel in whatever the field he likes as a leader and can become a professional. It gives a different aspect to the current political culture. Attitude change, new way of thinking and skills development is highly provided.

Most specifically, it creates a huge country wide youth network where all the youth get a chance to work together and understand each others' capabilities and issues."

Wasundara Kariyawasam is another Minister of the parliament who has been showing excellent leadership qualities so far. She is a final year student of the Open University following a science degree. Kariyawasam says that, "Being a member of the youth parliament is a priceless opportunity to become a good leader as well as to serve the country.

It basically creates a bunch of perfect leaders backed with a big island wide youth network. It gives us an opportunity to excel our talents as well as to look at the politics in a more positive way despite of the prevailing culture."

All of these youth leaders witness that youth parliament has given them a novel path, a new beginning to work towards creating a better youth generation in a developed Sri Lanka.

The next Youth Parliament will start soon and those who are interested should contact the NYSC and start the journey as a young leader to contribute to the country.

[Key objectives]

* To create a platform for Sri Lankan youth to enhance their leadership qualities, change attitudes positively, develop skills and to become solid leaders in every possible area.

* To make youth more educated about the prevailing parliamentary procedures and its traditions.

* To make all key governing bodies aware of the decisions taken by the youth parliament and let the youth parliament come up with new development suggesions to help the ongoing development agenda of the country.

* To make youth understand the issues within current political system and its practical outcome.

* To develop their speaking and listening skills.

* To bring up the rural youth issues to a national level through an island wide network.

[International level achievements]

* UN Habitat conference in Kenya 2012

* Rio +20 in Brazil 2012
* Commonwealth Youth Parliament in London 2012
* Commonwealth Youth Forum
* UK - Sri Lanka youth exchange programme 2012
* SAARC regional youth work shop on regional harmony 2010
* UN high level meeting in New York 2011