The representation of youths under 30 years of age in parliaments across the world is only 1.9 percent, finds a recent study conducted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

The smeared images of politicians portrayed before the young generation could be one of the reasons why the latter are turning their back on politics, said Osoru Maurine, the youngest parliamentarian of Uganda who is the newly-elected president of IPU Young Parliamentarians Forum.

The 26-year-old MP made the remarks yesterday while disclosing findings of the study during a media briefing at IPU media centre in Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

“Politics is absolutely something interesting, but youths are less interested in it. Why our young are not interested that is the question. The images the politicians portray before them discourage them [the youth] to engage in politics,” she said.

The study titled “Youth Participation in National Parliaments 2016” was conducted on 45,000 MPs of 128 parliaments around the world.

According to the study, the Swedish parliament has 12.3 percent -- the highest in the world -- of lawmakers who are below the age of 30. The parliament of Ecuador has 10.9 percent, Finland 10.5 percent while Norway has 10.1 percent representation from the age group.    

More than 80 percent of upper houses of parliaments in the world have no MPs aged below 30. The figure is nearly 33 percent for single and lower houses, the study finds.

Citing the grim picture of youth participation in politics, Osoru said the study is an eye-opener for the entire world and the picture is worrisome for democracy.

The youths do not trust the politicians as they make pledges that they do not fulfill. They tell lies that discourage the youths, she said, adding that the youths prefer to engage in day-to-day business as politics bring no benefit to their daily life.

The survey finds that about one-fifth of the world population -- around 1.2 billion -- are aged between 15 and 24.

“Youths are innovative. They have new ideas and creativity... [they] have impact on democracy.” So it is essential to restore their trust and engage them in politics, said Osoru.

The study shows that most of the 57 percent of potential voters, aged between 20 and 44, are reluctant to exercise their franchise due to mistrust in politics.