2021 Open Parliament Forum gets underway Dec. 2 in Taipei City, underscoring the commitment of the government to expanding resilient partnership with members of the democratic world, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Nov. 24.
Themed Open Parliament in a Post-COVID Context: Global Examples of Resilience and Planning for 2022 and Beyond, the two-day event is organized by the MOFA, Legislative Yuan and U.S.-headquartered nonprofit National Democratic Institute.
According to the ministry, 10-plus lawmakers from Europe and Latin America will visit Taiwan for the forum. They include Valerie Woods, speaker of Belize House of Representatives, and Matas Maldeikis, Janis Vucans and Juri Jaanson, members of parliament and chairs of Taiwan friendship groups in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, respectively.
A host of experts, scholars and parliamentarians from countries including Argentina, Australia, Czechia, France, Germany, Japan, Sri Lanka, the U.K. and U.S. will also take part via video link, the MOFA added.
Participants are expected to address various issues such as COVID-19 responses and parliamentary openness; emerging trends, opportunities and challenges in open parliament efforts; recommendations on disinformation; and an open parliament’s oversight role to the executive branch.
Attendees will also issue a joint statement reaffirming the commitment of Taiwan and like-minded partners to defending democracy and promoting open parliament civic participation.
In a tweet on its official Twitter account, the MOFA said “Open Parliament Forum kicks off Dec. 2 in #Taiwan. Like-minded lawmakers, academics, experts & NGO luminaries from the 4 corners of the free world will team up on tackling post-pandemic challenges. In the words of @sikunyou: “We shall walk together on this road to democracy.”” (SFC-E)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw