Newsletter june 2015

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ASEAN INTER-PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLYASEAN INTER-PARLIAMENTARY

ASSEMBLY SECRETARIAT NEWSLETTER

JUNE 2015

AIPA NEWS

The AIPA Newsletter is an official publications of the AIPA Secretariat www.aipasecretariat.org

Desire for Enhanced ASEAN-AIPA CooperationAIPA’s recommendations regarding ASEAN’s Three Pillars and strengthening the relationship between ASEAN and AIPA were the main focus of the meeting between the leaders of ASEAN and AIPA in Kuala Lumpur in April 2015, in conjunction with the 26th ASEAN Summit. At the meeting, AIPA provided its perspectives on the ur-gency of combating the widely emerging extremist ideologies, transnational crimes in South-east Asia, as well as enhancing m a r i t i m e s e c u r i t y with re-gard to the South China Sea issue. With the dawning of the ASEAN E c o n o m i c C ommuni-ty in 2015, the role of AIPA in rat-ifying ASE-AN agree-ments, such as the ASEAN Tourism Agreement, and translating its commitment into domestic legislation, is of paramount importance. AIPA could contribute significantly to the attainment of the goals and aspirations of ASEAN through inter-parliamentary coopera-tion and confidence-building. Possible cooperation activities could be pursued to ensure better AIPA appreciation and

support of the symbiotic relationship towards ASEAN community building and equitable economic development.

AIPA is committed to generating even more robust support towards the promotion and protection of the rights of women, children and marginalized people. The migrant worker issue also received much attention. Given the

approach of an integrated economy, workers throughout the region will be competing for job opportuni-ties. Thus, harmonization of labor legislations throughout ASEAN should be the priority of all ASEAN Member States to avoid any violation of labor rights.

These recommendations can be further elaborated if ASEAN and AIPA are able

to formalize the meeting between their leaders. The forum will serve as an ave-nue to deliberate possible cooperation, coordination and collaboration between the legislative and executive bodies to make ASEAN a rules-based organization. Besides, this forum may very well be the best platform to bring agreements reached at ASEAN Summits and resolutions passed at AIPA General Assemblies to the

attention of m e m b e r p a r l i a -ments to be discussed at parliament s i t t i n g s , t h u s improving AIPA’s par-t i c ip at i on in relevant A S E A N affairs. As ASEAN also aspires to t rans for m itself into a

people-centred community, whilst AIPA, as the legislative branch, serves as the representative of ASEAN peoples, there must be an agreed sole definition of “people-centred ASEAN” in order for ASEAN citizens to better comprehend their role and be willing to work together to achieve a harmonized regional community.

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Special Parliament Sitting on 26 March 2015 to Pay Tribute to FoundingPrime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

The Singapore Parliament sat for a special sitting on Thurs-day, 26 March 2015, at 4 pm for Members of Parliament to pay tribute to the late Honourable Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC and founding Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Lee passed away on 23 March 2015 at the age of 91.Speaker of Parliament, Madame Halimah Yacob, made introductory remarks before parliamentarians paid trib-ute to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew. In her speech, Speaker Halimah noted that Mr Lee’s parliamentary career had spanned nearly 60 years, earning him the honour of being the longest-serving Member of Parliament in Singapore. On behalf of all Members, she expressed the House’s deep regret at the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and its deepest sympathy and condolences to the family of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew.Quoting Mr Lee, Mdm Halimah

reminded all MPs that “Parliament, as an arena for the contest of wits and wills over matters of policies, will always remain important because of our system of parliamentary democracy” but that we must “make no mistake…. In this Chamber, we are playing for keeps. The future of Singapore and its peo-ple…. is not a question for light-hearted banter.” She added that it now fell upon Members of the House to ensure that Mr Lee’s legacy of a responsible and effective Parliament was continued.The following Parliamentari-ans spoke at the special sitting to pay tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew: • Dr Ng Eng Hen (Bishan-Toa

Payoh), Minister for De-fence and Leader of the House

• Mr Seng Han Thong (Ang Mo Kio)• Mr Low Thia Khiang (Aljunied)• Mr Wong Kan Seng

(Bishan-Toa Payoh)• Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng

(Nominated Member)• Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M (Tamp-

ines), Senior Minister of State,

Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs

• Mr Vikram Nair (Sembawang)• Ms Sim Ann (Holland-Bukit Ti-

mah), Minister of State, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Com-munications and Information

• Ms Chia Yong Yong (Nominated Member)

• Mr Christopher de Sou-za (Holland-Bukit Timah)

• Ms Indranee Rajah (Tan-jong Pagar), Senior Minis-ter of State, Ministry of Law and Ministry of Education

One minute of silence was observed at the end of the tributes. After the special sitting, all parliamentarians, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, paid homage to the late Mr Lee. During the period of national mourn-ing, a total of 454,687 visitors paid their last respects to Mr Lee as he lay in state Parliament House, while 1.2 million visited the 18 community tribute sites across the island.

Parliament observing a minute’s silence during the Special Parliament Sitting

Indonesian House of Representatives Commemorates60th Asian-African Conference

As we are all aware, the first Asian – African Conference was held in Bandung, West Java, on 18-24 April 1955, initiated by Indonesia, Bur-ma (Myanmar), Ceylon (Sri Lanka), India and Pakistan. The Indonesian House of Representatives gave its

highest appreciation and recognition to the respective late remarkable na-tional actors - Soekarno (Indonesia), Jawaharlal Nehru (India), U Nu (Myanmar), Sir John Kotelawa-la (Sri Lanka) and Muhammad Ali (Pakistan) - by hosting the Parliamentary Conference to Commemorate the 60th Asia -Africa Conference on Thursday, 23 April 2015, at the DPR RI Building.The meeting, with theme “Strengthen-ing the Role of Parliaments in South-South Cooperation to Promote World Peace and Prosperity, was attended by 130 delegates from 34 countries and officially opened by President Joko Widodo. Former Indonesian President and current President of Glob-al Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, addressed the meeting as a keynote speaker. This Conference discussed a number

of issues, including cooperation in promoting the development of Asian-African countries, the new Asian-African Strategic Partner-ship (NAASP), the establishment of an Asia–Africa Parliamentary Fo-rum, and solidarity on Palestine.The Conference concluded with the adoption of the Asia Africa Parlia-mentary Declaration: Toward Stron-ger Partnership for World Peace and Prosperity that endorsed 30 matters grouped into three main issues: Soli-darity for Palestine; Peace and prosper-ity; and Asia-Africa cooperation. The Declaration also underlined the importance of endorsing mutual support in various inter-parliamen-tary forums and supporting the idea of establishing a permanent Asia and Africa Parliamentary Group.

Asian African ConferenceCommemorationIndonesia 2015

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Visit of IPU Secretary General toNational Legislative Assembly of Thailand

On 1 December 2014, H.E. Professor Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, President of the National Legislative Assembly, welcomed Mr. Martin Chungong, Secretary General of Inter-Parliamenta-ry Union (IPU), on the occasion of his visit to Thailand as a guest of the National Legislative Assembly, as well as to partici-pate in the seminar “On the Path to Reform” organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both sides had a useful discussion on the need to reach out to and strengthen the parliaments at both the national and international levels in promoting peace

through dialogue, and democracy through strong parliaments. The situation in Thailand following the framework of Road-map of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the continuation of IPU membership status of Thailand at the 131st IPU Assembly and Related Meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, were also discussed. The Secretary General of the IPU also invited a delegation of the Thai Nation-al Legislative Assembly to participate in the 132nd IPU Assembly and Related Meetings to be held on 28 March to 1 April 2015 in Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

AIPA CORNER

The Passing Away of AIPA Colleague,Mr Sudarsono(1968 – 2015)

AIPA Secretariat mourns the loss of MR SUDARSONO who passed away on Fri-day, 15 May 2015 at Fatmawati Hospi-tal, Jakarta, Indonesia. He was 47 years of age.

Mr Sudarsono started his career as Se-curity Officer at AIPA Secretariat (then AIPO) in April 1993 and he has served for more than 22 years. He would always be remembered as a friendly, helpful, and compassionate person, whose memory is one of being a loving and caring fami-ly man and a good friend and colleague.

He is survived by his wife Mrs. Sedah Aminah, daughter Komsatun, and son Suryo Joyo Kusumo.

May Allah be with him and may his soul rest in eternal peace.

ASEAN-German Cooperation Reviewed

The ASEAN – Germany Joint Coopera-tion Review (AGJCR) took place on 4 - 5 February 2015 at the ASEAN Secretariat. The Review’s focal area was Institutional Strengthening / Capacity Development. During this Review, AIPA, as an inter - parliamentary organisation for ASEAN Member States and a beneficiary of the German-funded AIPA Capacity Development Project, was also involved. The Review was attended by the Secretary General of AIPA Mr. P. O. Ram, and Director of Policy, Education and Publicity of AIPA Ms. Ria R. Aritonang; Ms. Jessica Engel from the German Embassy; Mr. Ulrich Mohr from GIZ; Mr. Bernardo Agawin Jr., GIZ technical assistance coordinator assigned for the AIPA Capacity Development Project; and distin-guished officials from ASEAN Secretariat.

The Review covered the approach and progress of the AIPA Capacity Development project from its inception in 2012-13 and through its extension to 2014. Three approaches were considered priorities for the current project, namely, the AIPA insti-tutional reform process, human capacity development activities for AIPA staff/parliamentarians on specialized skills, and information management and outreach. Thus far, the areas that the project has managed to enhance are parliamentary budgeting and transparency, parliamentary scientific /research services, as well as the upcoming development of an AIPA Intranet System.

AIPA-wide Researcher NetworkBegins to Take Shape

Hanns Seidel Foundation Indonesia, in close cooperation with the Indonesian House of Representatives and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), conducted the last part of the Workshop Series on “Strengthening the Scientif-ic/Research Services of AIPA Member Parliaments” from 13-16 April 2015. The workshop was hosted by the House of Representatives of the Republic of In-donesia, and was the third in a series of three workshops to strengthen the scientific/research services of AIPA Member Parliaments, especially with a view to develop the capacity of these services to provide information, analysis and advice of relevance to their parliaments.The Workshop saw the enhanced form of initiative of participants from Indonesia, Philippines and VietNam on the propos-al to establish an AIPA-wide scientific / research services network modeled af-ter the Association of Parliamentary Librarians of Asia and the Pacific (APLAP). Documents on the proposed network were presented with the aim of seeking inputs and recommendations from the participants. In line with the proposal to develop a network, a plan to build an AIPA Intranet System is now underway and the system is expected to be in operation before the end of 2015. The AIPA intranet will become a service point which can be utilized by AIPA parliamentary research staff. AIPA Member Parliaments would allow individual researchers to share

information with others, and for all scientific / research services of AIPA Member Parliaments to have ac-cess to this pooling of resources.The Workshop forms part of the project “Capacity Development for the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) 2014-2015”, a joint initiative between the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary As-sembly (AIPA) and the German Federal Foreign Office (FFO) to strengthen the parliamentary normative and control functions of members of AIPA Committees and staff of the AIPA-Secretariat as well as

of the National Secretariats of AIPA Mem-ber Parliaments. The framework of project implementation envisages the close cooperation of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH with the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Indonesia as the implementing partner.

ASEAN CLMV Attachment Officers Paid Visit to AIPA Secretariat

A group of ASEAN Attachment Officers from CLMV countries visited AIPA Sec-retariat on Monday, 9 February 2015. They were Mr Phet Pasong Khamboun Heuang and Mr Vilakone Phongsa from Lao PDR, Ms Chhy Ratha from Cambodia, and Ms Phan Thi Dieu Linh from VietNam. These officers were nominated by their respective governments to be attached to the ASEAN Secretariat for the duration of one year and their visit to AIPA Secretariat was a means to familiarise themselves with AI-PA’s activities, function, vision and mission as well as its relationship with ASEAN.This CLMV Attachment Officers Programme is an innovative learning opportunity supported by the Govern-

ment of Japan through the JAPAN-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF). Attached offi-cers will benefit from the experience of dealing with regional cooperation un-der the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Com-munity (ASCC) Blueprints. They will also be assigned to various AEC and ASCC departments and divisions, as well as receive hands-on assignments based on ASEAN Secretariat’s cur-rent operational needs and work.

After the year-long attachment programme, the competency, capacity and confidence of the participating Officers in managing AEC

and ASCC-related matters in their home countries are expected to be enhanced. The programme is also expect-ed to deepen the participants’ understanding and knowledge about ASEAN’s strategic partnership with dialogue partners, especially with Japan.

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AIPA Pledges Support to ASEAN Community’s Post-2015

As a parliamentary organization of the Member States of ASEAN, AIPA also holds a stake in achieving the ASEAN Community by 2015, soon to enter its threshold in December this year. ASEAN, aware of the crucial role of AIPA, took the initiative to hold a Consultation between ASEAN and AIPA on ASEAN Community’s Post-

2015 Vision at the ASEAN Secre-tariat, Jakarta, on 9 April 2015. The Consultation was well-attended by dignitaries representing the respec-tive ASEAN Member States. Among them was former Secretary Gener-al of ASEAN, H.E. Mr Ong Keng Yong from Singapore, who held the position from 2003 to 2007.

During the Consultation, awareness- building, accomplishing people cen-tred ASEAN, and enhancing commu-nication between ASEAN and AIPA were the central topics discussed. One way to accomplish those goals is for ASEAN to invite AIPA representatives to its important meetings. Besides, there should be a joint effort by both ASEAN and AIPA to disseminate knowledge of the ASEAN Community’s Post-2015 Vision. In addition, a concerted ef-fort to establish a formal exchange for the purpose of discussing resolutions to be tabled at the General Assembly is urgently needed, to avoid contrary arrangements with ASEAN resolutions. Furthermore, AIPA is willing and eager to assist ASEAN in awareness-building. AIPA also envisions ASEAN Community 2015 as a community whose actors - encompassing schol-ars, grassroots organizations, youths, business practitioners, media, etc - arethe beneficiaries and also the torch-bear-ers who should contribute their views and actions through multi-faceted platforms.

Finding Common Ground on Budget Transparency

For inquiries, comments, reactions, call or mail the AIPA Secretariat, 6th Floor Nusantara 3 Building, DPR-RI Compound, Jalan Gatot Subroto, Senayan, Jakarta 10270 Indonesia, Telephone: (6221)-571 5511 / 571 5691, Fax: (6221) 5731319; or send an electronic mail to [email protected]. The Secretariat reserves the right to edit or modify submitted materials.

Parliamentary staff and experts gathered at Aureum Palace Hotel & Resort, NayPyiTaw, Myanmar, to discuss good practices in parliamen-tary budgeting and transparency. The workshop, which was held from 13 to 14 January 2015, was the last in the series, preceded by one in In-donesia in September 2013 and the other in Myanmar in June 2014. AIPA Secretariat jointly organized this event with GIZ Germany, supported with the generous help of the Host Parliament, the Union Assembly of Myanmar.Mr Ian Lienert, Expert on Public Poli-cy, led the discussions by raising ques-tions surrounding good practices in parliamentary budgeting and trans-

parency and based his explanation on the four principles of budget trans-parency which were authority, clarity, comprehensiveness and accountabili-ty. The workshop was divided into four sessions: presentation on the over-view of parliamentary budgeting and transparency in ASEAN Member States; country presentations on recent devel-opments and challenges for parliamenta-ry budgeting in ASEAN Member States; discussion on the good practices in parliamentary budgeting and transparency; and the drafting of possible standards for parliamentary budgeting in ASEAN Member States.The output of this workshop is a publication on “Parliamentary Budgeting and Trans-

parency in ASEAN Member States” containing among others information on commonly agreed good practices in budgeting matters from the respective of ASEAN parliaments. Implementing budget transparency itself is the first step towards democratizing the bud-get process and giving citizens a say in policy formulation and resource alloca-tion. Budget transparency, although not a goal per se, is a prerequisite for pub-lic participation and accountability. A budget that is not transparent, ac-cessible and accurate cannot be properly analysed. Its implemen-tation cannot be thoroughly mon-itored nor its outcomes evaluated.