"One of the formal mechanisms to support an open parliament is by getting involved in the international network of the Open Government Partnership (OGP)," the Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Cooperation Agency of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Rofi` Munawar, said on the sidelines of the 5th OGP Summit in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Thursday.
Rofi` pointed out that the Indonesian House`s participation in the summit marks the first time that it has formed part of the country`s delegation, which includes other government officials as well.
According to Rofi`, while this is the first time the House has participated in the summit, Indonesia has been applying the principles of openness for some time now.
"Some of the stages and mechanisms used by the House have been applied openly as the principles of openness has been part of global dynamism, and thus the agency decided that the House needs to declare itself as an open parliament following international standards on openness," he said.
The issues discussed at the summit were highly relevant to current parliamentary activities, Rofi` said.
"Issues about transparency, the utilization of technology, and regulations on lobbying are relevant to the Indonesian parliament," he added.
Rofi` said he appreciated the involvement of the Indonesian House in the discussion on open parliament, adding that the House has made an effort to incorporate an action plan on open parliament that is separate from that of the government.
"If the Indonesian House proposes the action plan, the House will be part of the big ten of world parliaments which have registered their action plans separate from those of their (respective) governments," he remarked.
The summit featured panelists such as OGP CEO Sanjay Pradhan, former New Zealand Prime Minister and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark, as well as civil society practitioners from the pro-democracy institution NDI Westminster Foundation for Democracy.
Reporter: Libertina W. Ambari
Editor: Bambang Purwanto
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