Taiwan Representative Group Breaks Through Diplomatic Challenges! Presented and Officially Included「Open Government Partnership Summit」Agenda! Share the Democratic experiences and Achievements of Open Parliament!

According to Citizen Congress Watch, Open Culture Foundation, Cofacts, The Legislative Yuan and Member Freddy Lim along with the staff of The Legislative Yuan’s “Open Parliament Committee” delegation, on September 8th, 2023, during the holding of the Open Government Partners Summit in Tallinn, Estonia, we succeeded in holding this side event. A side event which allowed the world’s communities to gain a deeper understanding of Taiwan’s open government, and its experience in citizen participation, etc. The delegation shared the challenges and opportunities Taiwan faced during this process, and with the representatives of various countries, parliamentary members and civil society organizations discussed the direction of future development concerning open parliaments.

The Open Government Partnership Includes 75 Allied Countries

The Open Government Partnership was founded in 2011, currently 75 countries in total and 104 local administrative districts have officially joined. Membership is based on government openness and citizen participation ideals, to ensure that civil society and citizen participation play a role monitoring the government. Every two years, every member country needs to submit an action plan that has been co-created by civil society, this action plan outlines specific commitments that are designed to enhance government transparency, accountability and public participation.

The OGP Summit is a biannual democratic event that brings together delegates from the world’s governments, parliament members, civil society organizations and enterprise leaders. It’s aimed at exploring open government, as well as issues such as transparency and participatory politics. Although Taiwan has not yet become an official member of OGP, it’s outstanding performance in democratic governance and open congress has won the recognition of democratic partners in various countries.

The First Time in History that Taiwan has Hosted a Summit Agenda Event

Taiwan's delegation “successfully” organized a side event during the 2023 Open Government Partnership Summit which was a historic moment that achieved a major diplomatic breakthrough. The success of this hosting highlights Taiwan’s commitment to democratic values and relentless pursuit of open government. The delegation's participation injects new momentum into Taiwan's position in international affairs, while also re-emphasizing Taiwan's democratic values and commitments. Going forward, Taiwan will continue to be active in promoting open government and democratic values on the international stage.

The theme hosted by Taiwan is “How to Maintain Momentum for an Open Parliament”. Delegates took this time to share their views on open congress, citizen participation, overseeing the parliaments, citizen technology, democratic participation, among other successful practices. In recent years, The Legislative Yuan has been committed to promoting transparency around their proceedings, as well as advocated for parliamentary openness, actively participated in Legislative Yuan Open Parliament Committee, promoted an open data format and improved the bulletin system, enabling the civic tech community to access parliamentary data and organize it into useful information for the public.

Calling on lawmakers from all parties to proactively respond and facilitate public-private collaboration to introduce open culture into the Legislative Yuan

Although in this aspect we gained some achievements, and moreover, successfully hosted an OGP summit side activity, as well as shared Taiwan’s international experience, Taiwan’s open parliament still faces some challenges. First, we anticipate having more legislators to actively participate in “National Action Plan for Open Parliament” discussions, carry out commitments together, and participate in drafting the second edition of the 'Open Parliament National Action Plan' to realize the concept of collaborative government-citizen efforts within an open parliament. We invite the legislators to enter this discussion, and bring the issues that voters are concerned about, which are also the issues legislators hope to promote, to the preparatory meeting of the second “National Action Plan for Open Parliament”. This is a common way, internationally speaking, for multiple stakeholders to participate in these commitment matters.

The Participation and Commitments of the World’s Parliament Monitoring Organizations

During the meeting we also invited the Parliament Monitoring Organization of Latin America Directorio Legislativo, and Africa’s PNAfrica and share their experience in monitoring parliaments and open parliaments. To which these two organization’s representatives both expressed how important monitoring of regional parliaments is. Currently based in Argentina, Directorio Legislativo monitors 15 parliaments in Latin America PNAfrica monitors more than 25 African parliaments and local councils. Through inter-regional congressional surveys and analysis, they assist the parliaments of various countries in strengthening each other on issues such as transparency and openness, citizen participation, and member accountability, as well as promote the motivation for progress and reform within the parliament! Representatives of both organizations also unanimously stated that the Global Monitoring Alliance should take the lead in establishing inter-Asian regional congressional monitoring network cooperation and promised to provide maximum assistance and cooperation. We look forward to the day when the Global Parliamentary Monitoring Organization will be a complete global network.

Citizen Congress Watch founded the International Affairs Committee and Department of International Affairs to promote the Network of Monitoring for Asian Parliament

In addition to exchanging experiences, we have also received the expectations and commitments given by international friends to CCW, of which we are in the process of making a reality. In 2022, CCW established the International Affairs Committee and the Department of International Affairs, and began to promote exchanges between Parliamentary Monitoring Organizations in Asia. In March of this year, we hosted the “Parliamentary Openness and Monitoring Forum” and invited 11 Parliamentary Monitoring Organization from around the world to sign a joint statement to promote global parliamentary monitoring actions. In June, CCW and a Japanese parliamentary monitoring organization by the name of “Perennial Opposition Party” signed a memorandum of cooperation and pledged to jointly promote the connection of parliamentary monitoring organizations in Asia. It is expected that an Asian Parliamentary Monitoring Organization workshop will be held in Australia in November to promote the Asian Parliamentary Monitoring Organization.