Civic Participation, Strengthening and resilience The Taiwanese-Thai Parliamentary Monitoring Organization Partnership

11/27 (Wednesday) Representatives of the Citizen Congress Watch (Taiwan), WeVis (Thailand), Lente (Philippines), the NDI (USA) visit Representatives to the Thai House of Representatives in the National Assembly of Thailand

Civic Participation, Strengthening and resilience
The Taiwanese-Thai Parliamentary Monitoring Organization Partnership, Together Holding Up the Umbrella of Asian Democracies!

Facing the expansion of authoritarianism, the Citizen Congress Watch (CCW) and the Thai parliamentary monitoring organization WeVis collaborate, jointly promoting parliamentary transparency reform in Asia and strengthening the tenacity of regional democracies. In the end of November 2024, the two groups jointly signed a memorandum of cooperation in Bangkok, Thailand, committing to ​ cooperate in establishing a network of parliamentary monitoring in Asia, also in formulating the “Asian Parliamentary Transparency Metrics”. The conduction of a comprehensive survey is planned to be commenced in 2025, furthering the cause of parliamentary transparency and accountability mechanisms in the Asian Region.
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Deeping the Ties of Bilateral Collaboration between Taiwan and Thailand, Advancing the Process of Democratic Transparency!

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In view of the recent global threat of democratic regression, the importance of teamwork between ​ parliamentary monitoring organizations (PMOs) increases daily. Such is the reason the CCW and WeVIs have decided to sign the memorandum of cooperation, symbolizing the deepening of the partnership between Taiwanese and Thai civil organizations. Both groups have committed to:
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1. starting discussions with other Asian PMOs, in cooperation with international non-governmental organizations and initiatives, aiming at launching an Asian parliamentary monitoring network,
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2. developing Asia Parliamentary Transparency Metrics and conducting regular surveys, with the goal of promoting transparency and openness in parliaments across Asian countries.
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In other news, the CCW has also conducted in depth exchanges with local Thai civil society organizations (CSO), including the likes of iLaw, 101Pub, Hand SE and more, learning about the methods of operation of Thai civil organizations, and understanding the challenges faced in the work of parliamentary monitoring, also exploring ways to strengthen mutual trust and cooperation on the basis of core democratic values like openness and transparency.
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Cross-Domain Technical Exchanges, Strengthening the Influence of Democracy!

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    The CCW further held internal discussions with Thai local media organizations, such as the The standard, Thai PBS and Rocket Media Lab, exploring the key effect “open data” and “open sources” has on policy tracking, at the same time sharing the importance of “data initiatives” and conducting an exchange on the experiences of how the media and civil societies made a joint effort in advancing Thai parliamentary reforms.
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On this subject, CCW Chairman Tseng (曾建元) states: “The Thai civil society scene has seen a vigorous growth in recent years, helping more of the public take interest in their own political rights through open data, social media, and data empowerment. This is a success story that Taiwanese civil organizations should draw lessons from.”
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WeVis Co-Founder Thanisara GG Ruangdej also pointed out: “The experiences in the opening of the Taiwanese Congress has great inspirational meaning to Thailand. We expect to find the data support and a direction and a concrete direction for reforms in the Thai National Assembly.”
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Deepening Civil Diplomacy, Presenting Taiwanese Democratic Soft Power!

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    In this interview, the CCW also further met up with multiple Members of the National Assembly and political dignitaries of the current biggest opposition party in the Thai National Assembly - The People's Party (formerly known as the Move Forward Party) to on the one hand, share the Taiwanese experience in pushing for parliamentary transparency, and on the other to further discuss the challenges in the advocation process for the publishing of ​ Thai parliamentary material and government budget transparency.
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    Lastly, the CCW and Minister Hsiao (蕭秀媚) ​ of our nation’s Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand conducted a discussion on the recent political situation in Thailand, and PMO collaboration plans in the Asia Pacific region, exploring how the Taiwanese government can help NGOs in making a breakthrough in our nation’s current diplomatic deadlocks, together creating more values in democratic, progressive rights.
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On this, CCW Convener for the Committee on International Affairs states: “The growth of Thai civil society is encouraging. Even though the process of the pursuit of democracy is full of challenges, the seeds of liberty and rights have already taken roots in the Asian region. I believe the collaboration between civil organizations in Taiwan and Thailand will soon bring strength for bigger change and advancement in both societies, helping the young saplings of democracy continue to thrive!”
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In the future, the CCW will continue to promote teamwork between the civil societies of Taiwan and Thailand, and will push for the the Asian Parliamentary Transparency Survey program in 2025, hoping to further push for parliamentary transparency reforms in all countries, in order to realize a more solid and resilient democracy, in order to fend off the spread of authoritarianism, to lay a more stable foundation for the future of democracies in the Asian region.

11/26 (Tuesday) the Signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Citizen Congress Watch (Taiwan) and WeVis (Thailand) in Bangkok, Thailand
Chairman Tseng (曾建元) of the CCW, left, and WeVis Co-Founder Thanisara GG Ruangdej, right
 

11/29 (Thursday) Group Photo after the meeting of Citizen Congress Watch (Taiwan) with Thai Media Organizations Thai PBS, The Stander, and Rocket Media Lab