The role of election watchdog can be a stepping stone to a career in politics, says Mario Polshin, an 11th-grade student at Kohtla-Järve Gymnasium.
In the future, he is aiming for a seat in the state parliament, but only after he has accumulated enough knowledge and life experience. For now, he is taking a sharp look at what today’s politicians are doing.
“I’m interested in policy-making in Estonia and in my home town of Kohtla-Järve. I participated in Kersti Kaljulaid’s Democracy Academy and already at the first meeting I realised that politics and what is happening in society is quite interesting to me,” says Mario, who is also the vice-chairman of the Kohtla-Järve Youth Council and the president of the Kohtla-Järve gymnasium student council.
So it was a logical step to take part in the Democracy and Political Participation programme this spring, which nurtures young people to become opinion leaders and prepares them to become election supervisors ahead of the European Parliament elections. He has thus followed the election campaigns with interest, listened to the debates and even conducted them himself.
“Together with Artur Chužas, the chairman of the youth council, we organised a debate at the Kohtla-Järve gymnasium, where representatives of all political parties were present except the Greens. We invited the politicians ourselves, prepared the questions and led the discussion,” recalls Mario.
How much do other young people care about politics and the European elections?
“There are active young people who are interested in shaping policy, but unfortunately it is very difficult to reach those who are not interested at all or who think that let the politicians do their politics and that I can’t change anything anyway. Their parents have lost hope that they can make a difference, that the city will change for the better, and they have passed on the same sense of hopelessness to their children. As a result, young people feel that their opinion does not matter.”
Problems need to be discussed with decision-makers
Mario himself believes that all problems can be solved if you talk about them. “If you have a problem, you just need to talk about it, not just with your friends, but with decision-makers. Or collect signatures and draw attention to the problem.”
Mario has done this himself, with courage. In April, when Education and Science Minister Kristin Kallas visited the Kohtla-Järve gymnasium to meet with school staff and parents, Mario asked what the plan was for the students who would not transfer to Estonian. He pointed out that many 8th and 9th graders don’t know enough Estonian and their future path is practically blocked.
Mario was told that the ministry has given a lot of thought to this, and that if a basic school leaver does not pass the B1 level Estonian exam, they will have to do an additional year of Estonian before continuing their studies at a gymnasium or vocational school.
“It is sometimes difficult for politicians to understand the problems of ordinary people because they do not live in this environment. In Tallinn, it’s hard to understand the problems of Russian-speaking young people from Ida-Viru County,” discusses Mario, who is worried about how the transition to teaching in Estonian will work out when many teachers have to leave their jobs because of their poor Estonian language skills.
“Will we find enough good specialists to replace them, as teaching is not a top 3 profession in Estonia? The minister assured us that we will, but I am afraid that we will not be able to replace all the teachers who are currently being dismissed in schools.”
Mario admits that the European Parliament elections will focus on other issues – security and greening. “I’ve noticed that the green revolution is a very emotional issue. One of the questions that has come up is whether we should now be focusing our resources on the climate at a time when there is a war going on and security needs a lot of attention,” he relays what he heard in the debates. Mario has a plan to embark on his own political path. She wants to study political science at the University of Tartu, join the European Federation of Youth Associations and stand in the next local elections. At the age of 30 or so, she could even think about a seat in parliament.
“I will only run for the Riigikogu if I am absolutely sure that I can have a positive impact on Estonia’s economy and security. To do that, I need more knowledge and life experience, because I want to be the person who brings innovative ideas to the parliament. I don’t want to just sit in the parliament.”
Campaigning for good electoral practice
Mario believes that being a scrutineer will help young people decide whether they want to get involved in politics or not. In total, there are around twenty election supervisors in Ida-Virumaa and Harjumaa. Among them are Ingrid Raudsepp, a student at the University of Tartu from Narva, and German Morris, a student at the Tallinn Ehte Humanitarian Gymnasium.
“We have to make sure that the elections are fair, that there are no irregularities and that the people who are elected to the European Parliament keep the promises they made during the election campaign,” Ingrid lists her tasks.
She has never had much interest in politics before, but became an election supervisor because she wanted to try something new, develop her communication skills and get some practice writing articles. “I don’t think I’ll be going into politics myself in the future, my nerves wouldn’t be up to it, but it’s interesting to watch from the sidelines,” says Ingrid.
Going into politics isn’t one of Germans’ goals either, but she’s keeping her options open and says life will tell. As an election supervisor, she hopes to broaden her horizons by taking part in public debates and trying to understand the interests and goals of politicians. Election observers will keep an eye on campaigns to make sure they comply with good electoral practice. They produce weekly summaries of campaign events and content.
To help them spot irregularities, the young people took part in five training sessions in Narva and Tallinn, where, among other things, they learned how to analyse the media and politicians’ promises. In addition, six public debates were held on topics such as democracy and security, electoral challenges, hate speech and human rights.
“The main funder of the programme is the British Council, but we are working together with the Federation of Estonian Youth Associations, local authorities and various educational institutions to provide civic education to those interested. Our main goal is to raise awareness and critical thinking among voters, so that reasoned arguments, not demagogy, dominate election campaigns,” explains Vassili Golikov, Programme Manager of the Sillamäe Child Protection Association.
According to Vassiliou Golikov, the impact of the Democracy and Political Participation Programme “Youth Perspectives on Democracy and the European Parliament Elections 2024” goes beyond the European Parliament elections. “Local elections are coming up soon, where young people 16+ can vote and change local life based on critical thinking. We would like the voter to be wise and see through populism, because everyone has the right and also the duty to stand up for their community and society.”
Sirle Sommer-Kaldal, journalist (Ida-Virumaa).
Photo by Matti Kamara (Pohjarannik).