TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Japanese parliament monitoring organization Perennial Opposition signed a cooperation MOU with Taiwan’s Civic Alliance for Parliamentary Oversight on Tuesday (June 20).
The MOU seeks to create an international framework for cooperation in parliamentary oversight in Asia, per a Citizen Congress Watch press release. Through closer collaboration between Taiwan and Japan, the parliamentary oversight network in Asia can be expanded.
The agreement pointed to periodic online parliamentary evaluation seminars, joint award ceremonies for outstanding parliamentarians from Taiwan and Japan, and possibly establishing an automated evaluation data collection program for parliaments in various Asian countries as potential areas of cooperation.
Additionally, the memorandum supports data sharing to enhance transparency and efficiency in the Taiwan and Japanese parliaments. The agreement is expected to strengthen exchanges between civic groups in the two countries, solidify the foundation of democracy, and share parliamentary oversight experience with other Asian countries.
The ultimate goal of Taiwan-Japan civic group cooperation is to prevent authoritarian forces from eroding the hard-earned fruits of democracy.
As a follow-up to the signing of Tuesday’s MOU, there will be two public symposiums. One will invite Takenaka Heizo, former Japanese minister of state, and Ku Chung-hua (顧忠華), chairman of the Citizen Congress Watch, to share insights on the progress of Asian democracy.
The other symposium will feature Hara Eiji, director of Perennial Opposition, and Chang Hung-Lin (張宏林), executive director of Citizen Congress Watch, who will discuss their experiences in establishing parliamentary evaluation methods that build public trust.
Takenaka led the Perennial Opposition delegation in Taiwan to exchange views on parliamentary evaluation systems and foster closer communication between the parliamentary oversight groups of Taiwan and Japan.
