Yes, we have new young politicians in this Lok Sabha. But the average age of the House has gone up. Like in so many things in politics, ?young? means different things to different people in different countries.
When thinking of India?s Young Turks, an obvious reference that comes to mind is Omar Abdullah?s nuclear speech last year. Running into minutes rather than octogenarian hours, it began: ?I am a Muslim and I am an Indian.? And went on to elaborate how he saw no distinction between the two, saw no reason to fear the nuclear deal, a deal between two countries that would be equals in the future. None of the usual postcolonial defensiveness marred this talk, and it went on to notch up more than 11,000 YouTube hits within just two days. Over in Kuwait also, where the parliament has just acquired its first four women MPs, defensiveness is taking the backbench, with MP Salwa Al-Jassar underlining how women hadn?t needed a quota system to get into parliament. So, confidence is clearly a cross-cultural Young Turk characteristic.
But, what?s young, exactly? The UNFPA?s youth supplement to the State of World Population report 2008 indicates this means being between the ages of 10 and 24?a 1.5 billion strong demographic, the largest generation in human history, 60% living in Asia alone. But if you go by this week?s felicitations in India, anyone under 40 years would qualify as young, apparently.
Before turning to what?s being feted in India, let?s take a quick glance around the world for comparison?s sake. In the US, where much has been made of 47-year old Barack Obama beating the odds on experience, this feat takes a backseat to John F Kennedy?s, who won the US presidency at 43 nearly five decades ago. Still, assuming that Kennedy was the original TV campaign baby, Obama has proved himself the Obi Kenobi of Internet mobilisation.
But, archetypical Young Turk Obama accompanies a US Congress that?s among the grayest ever. Senators today average 60. And the average member of the House is aged 55, which is the oldest in more than a century!
Over to the Red Dragon with whom we share our northern borders; there too the slogan of change is receiving mixed blessings. The Communist party?s 74 million members?up from 50 million in the nineties?make it the world?s largest political party. Recent reports suggest that there are plans in place to fast-track promising young politicians through this behemoth?s ranks. The People?s Daily has reported how the Party attached importance to selecting young officials both at the 16th Party Congress in 2002 and the 17th in 2007. By 2007 end, as a result, around 72% Chinese officials were under the age of 45 and 88% had received a college education. More pertinently, the average age of provincial, city and county officials had dropped 8.4 years, 6.8 years and 5.4 years respectively between 1978 and 2007.
On the other hand, plans to promote and expand village elections that were widely lauded in the nineties seem to have stalled (perhaps an ongoing Tiananmen hangover). The result is that the system of power flowing from the patrons is still very much in place. And the average age of the 17th Politburo Standing Committee has risen to 62.33 years from the 62.11 boasted by the 16th one.
In Europe, the average leaders? age is 55, with a 39 years age gap between an 81 years old Lithuanian president and a 42 years old Swedish prime minister. Here, being younger does seem to have a correlation with being more liberal. Spain?s prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who was elected at 44, legalised same-sex marriage, reformed the educational system and mass regularised illegal immigrants.
Back on home turf, even as the Congress and the Trinamool Congress (specially) celebrate the success of many first-timers, even as speculations continue about how many of these young parliamentarians will finally find a place in the new council of ministers, and as skeptics count how many of these youngsters are part of the babalog brigade riding on its ancestors? laurels, the question to ask is whether our parliament has actually become younger over time?
Well, while we now have a Lok Sabha with a higher number of under-40 members than the last, the average age of the House?at 53.03 years?has actually gone up. In fact, what we now have is the third oldest Lok Sabha ever, as compared to the first one that was among the youngest, averaging just 46.5 years.