While millennials are generally seen as apolitical, there is a growing number of young people with an interest in politics who have prompted political parties to give them the opportunity to get engaged in the field.

The decades-old Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has tried to attract younger generations of budding politicians through an internship program called Banteng Muda (Young Bull), referring to the party’s symbol.

The program, which also aims to regenerate the party, is open to university graduates from various backgrounds. Selected interns are assigned to assist members of the Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD) for a number of functions.

According to PDI-P faction chairman Gembong Warsono, the internship program was also designed to introduce the younger generations to senior legislative members and to a variety of legislation to improve communities’ quality of life.

“The interns will be asked to visit communities to listen and gather residents’ aspirations. They will then deliver the people’s inquiries and suggestions to the legislature. Subsequently, both the interns and the senior legislative council members will collaborate in designing a draft bylaw that the party will introduce during DPRD meetings and hopefully get the draft bylaw passed and enacted immediately,” Gembong told The Jakarta Post.

In addition, Gembong said the interns would also be helping the legislative council allocate Jakarta’s regional budget (APBD).

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