Share |

Sunday, 29 May 2011

Government Plans To Set Up Youth Parliament - Najib

PUTRAJAYA, May 28 (Bernama) -- The government plans to introduce a parliament for youths to get to know their views, aspirations and ideas, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said the "MPs" in the parliament would be elected by the youths themselves.

"The age limit for the representatives will probably be below 40," he said when opening the One Million Youths gathering in conjunction with National Youth Day here Saturday.

Also present were Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek and several other Cabinet ministers.

"Debates can be held and proposals made...the government will give due consideration to the inputs provided by the youths' representatives," said Najib.

He said the youth parliament was one of six government initiatives to recognise the role and contributions of the nation's youth.

As future leaders, he said, the government would also be introducing the mentor-mentee concept to youths in several areas including entreprenurship, public service, social activities, industry and in creative and professional fields.

Besides these, he said the government would also be introducing outreach programmes, a news portal for youths, youth icons (role models) and set up a youth park in Putrajaya.

"The youth park initiative is line with Putrajaya being a youth-friendly city," he said.

The mammoth youth gathering, which began yesterday and ends tomorrow, features more than 200 activities and programmes for youths involving sports, extreme sports, the arts and other creative fields.

Najib said he was very pleased with the mammoth gathering and looked forward to seeing a turnout of two million youths next year.

He said this year's turnout was far greater than last year and that this showed youths in the country wanted peace unlike in some countries in the Middle East.

"I believe we can show to the world... Malaysia is peaceful and stable. What happened in Egypt and is happening in Tripoli are their own internal matters.

"Malaysia belongs to us and today's youths know their future is dependent on the success of the national transformation plans," he said.

The prime minister said the government was working very hard for the wellbeing of the people especially youths as they were the catalysts to bring about a transformation to make Malaysia a developed state.

"Although you (youths) may not be at the highest decision making level for the country, it would suffice if you uphold and support the government's transformation plans. I really appreciate that," he said, adding that the support shown by the youths at the gathering relfected that they did not want Putrajaya, the national administrative capital, to fall into the hands of the opposition.

"One day there will among you gathered here today who will occupy powerful positions in Putrajaya. This is what we want to see...not like the opposition who want to "lelong" (auction off) Putrajaya," he added.

A number of foreign envoys also attended the official opening of the mammoth gathering.

No comments: