TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The East Java 4 electorate district (dapil) sees 109 legislative hopefuls competing for the eight available seats at the House of Representatives (DPR RI). This region consists of Lumajang and Jember Districts.

Seven out of the eight incumbents in this dapil are also set to run again in the 2019 election, with one of them being Gerindra Party’s Bambang Haryadi who’s Jember born on August 20, 1979. He said that his campaign period is calculated since becoming a member in 2014.

“This is a betting arena of the public’s valuation of our past performance,” he said when Tempo reached him on Sunday, March 3.

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He argues that the public would “punish” an incumbent that underperforms by not voting for the same person in the upcoming election.

This is the reason why he is offering himself as a representative for youth voters. “Millennial voters are pretty huge and is contested in all of the general election competition,” he explained.

Based on the East Java Election Commission, youth voters (17-35 years of age) comprise of 35 percent of the region’s total voters. He also sees the positive in effectively campaigning without spending too much through the use of social media.

“It’s pretty effective in reducing spending and increases popularity,” he said.

REZKI ALVIONITASARI