The range of candidates contesting the Moresby Northwest by-election currently underway is informative.

The 42 candidates are from many walks of life, age groups and ethnic backgrounds contesting the seat in our national Parliament left vacant by a former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta.

Candidates, originally from the highlands region and in particular Enga Province are dominating the race. My discussion today is not about the dominance of the candidates from the highlands provinces.

What caught my attention is the strong presence of young professionals and retired former civil servants in the race for the seat left vacant by our former “reformist” Prime Minister, himself a retired senior public servant of notable repute of many years.

The young professionals have left their fledgling careers of a few years and are contesting the by-election.

This is a significant sacrifice for the young professionals to make. They are doing so for an elected public office in Papua New Guinea whose tenure is not as predictable and I might add not personally gratifying as a professional career.

The retirees on the other hand, perhaps find elected political office as another way of making a

contribution to society with their years of experience in professional and personal life.

I am particularly amazed by the academic resume of some of the young professionals who are contesting the by-election with about 12 months to go before the national election next year.

These young professionals have a long way to go and much to contribute in their chosen professional fields or trades. But they have decided to contest in a by-election for a seat in our National Parliament.

What is happening in the Moresby Northwest by-election is part of a trend that has emerged where we have witnessed many young professional graduates, barely out of university or college contesting for a seat in the National Parliament.

The current Prime Minister James Marape is an example of a young graduate, barely out of university for a few years who first contested the seat of Tari-Pori in 2002 and was unsuccessful. Mr Marape then recontested for the same seat in the next election in 2007 and this time won.

The Governor for Eastern Highlands Province, Peter Numu is another example. Mr Numu contested the seat in 2017 and won with his undergraduate university education fresh on his mind.

More interesting are the instances where graduates with strong resumes in the early stages of their

careers with reputable organisations including universities overseas who have resigned and returned

home to contest an election but lose in the race. Governor of Jiwaka Dr William Tongamp is perhaps an exception where he resigned from his fledgling academic career overseas to return home and be elected into Parliament.

The young professionals are foregoing their niche career development and contributions they can make to contest for elected public office in our highly sectarian, personalized and parochial electoral process.

We are witnessing a growing trend where young people in the 20s and early 30s are contesting and, in many instances, winning the seats from the Ward level in the local level governments to the National Parliament.

Does this mean there is growing political awareness based around a strong input from political parties in terms of social cohesion and awareness at the grassroots level? No, political parties do not have a strong policy agenda based at the people level. I have written about this in my previous articles.

Would we consider ourselves making progress when we vote into our elected offices more and more

young people with limited experiences in professional careers, business and life in general? Would this mean the electorate is becoming more political savvy and the younger generation is keenly in tune and are interested politics and its role in our society and are contesting?

Or are some of the interest in elected political office based around a misplaced premise of making it in life to get in and reach a personal goal or fulfill a private ambition?

These are the sorts of questions worth asking when more and more of our young people with limited

experiences in professional work and life are contesting for the elected political offices.

No doubt there are exceptionally talented and fair-minded young individuals completing university or

college education and or starting out their careers. Some of them may end up being far better elected politicians than the older and more experienced contestants and incumbent office holders. But the report card of those who did enter Parliament, provincial assemblies and the LLG chambers, is mixed. They tend to enter those political offices and get caught up in the ‘culture’ there.

It is important and necessary for the youth and the next generation in all levels of our education system to be made aware and interested in politics and political office. This is where, in my opinion, the political parties and the Electoral Commission of PNG have failed. Whose job is to sensitize the masses, particular the youth and the next generation whose futures are impacted by the decisions and actions of the those in elected political offices and public service positions in the present and past years.

I will always respect people’s democratic rights to contest for an elected public office. Our constitution guarantees every citizen who is fit and proper and meets the requirements.

At the same time, I would not want to see a constant stream of frustrated and angry young professionals leaving their fledging careers or exiting university to contest for political office because they think that is where they would make the maximum contribution to change the cause of their communities, districts, provinces and country.

I would rather see young professionals rise up and build their fledgling careers and make notable

contributions there. By the same token, I would prefer young university students to study and understand politics and be an informed consumer of government decisions, Parliament decisions and debates and be an agent of change. By being an agent of change I mean educate those around you as a university student to be political-savvy to understand what is going on to ask questions and demand answers from those holding those public offices.

Elected political office is not the sole propriety of incumbency. We must never forget that. All of us have the constitutional right to have say to make sure these public offices are run properly. It does not necessarily mean, because someone is not too happy something in a public office, resigns from his or her young professional career to contest for a seat in Parliament. It does not mean to sacrifice all your resources to support someone to contest for a seat in Parliament and end up losing out, when your candidate loses.

Do your homework first. Clock some good years in your professional and personal and community life. Be a community organizer and be with the people and share your knowledge and skills with the those that need it. After that, then you may consider contesting for an elected political office. You may one day end up being a well-versed and informed Member of Parliament.