The Parliamentary Centre in Asia

In Asia, governance reforms are unlikely to succeed without strong institutions to support them. The Parliamentary Centre therefore focuses on institutional strengthening and helps both parliamentarians and parliamentary staff. Taking into account the basic parliamentary functions of legislation, oversight and representation as well as governance values of accountability, transparency and participation, the Centre delivers technical assistance in legislative review, oversight, procedures/management and parliamentary staff development.. The Centre also works in policy areas such as anti-corruption, poverty reduction and gender equality.

The Cambodia-Canada Legislative Support Program promotes democracy in Cambodia by building the capacity of both the National Assembly and the Senate. The Project has recently completed its first year of implementation and looks forward to continuing its work with MPs, Senators and staff of the Cambodian Parliament in 2003-2004.

The Centre recently completed an assessment mission for the China-Canada Legislative Cooperation Project (CCLCP). The project aims to improve governance and democratic development in China by strengthening the People's Congress system. The Parliamentary Centre expects implementation to commence shortly.

Legislators and representatives from Civil Society have participated in the Laurentian Seminar, bringing an Asian perspective to deliberations and gaining a better appreciation of Parliament's role in global policy Partner organizations in Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia organized follow-up workshops, developing anti-corruption strategies for their legislatures and publishing national editions of Controlling Corruption: A Parliamentarians' Handbook . These can be obtained from the King Prajadhipok's Institute in Thailand, the Centre for Social Development in Cambodia and Indonesia Corruption Watch.

For more information on the "South East Asian Regional Seminar on Parliament and Good Governance: Towards a New Agenda for Strengthening Accountability in South Asia" visit www.ti-bangladesh.org/docs/laurent

A Tribute to His Excellency Om Radsady

On February 18, 2003 HE Om Radsady was shot and killed by an unknown assassin after leaving his favourite restaurant in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Respected and admired as a kind and gentle upholder of democracy, Om Radsady's death is a tremendous loss to his country and his people. The Cambodia-Canada Legislative Support Project has also suffered a great loss, as Om Radsady was a keen supporter and contributor to the goals and efforts of the project.
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Li Peng Calls for Greater Openness, Transparency in Legislation

Li Peng, chairman of the Standing committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), on Tuesday called for greater openness and transparency in legislative work, so as to ensure that the laws to be enacted would be scientific, fair and democratic.
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Li Peng Urges People's Congress to Contribute to Political Civilization

The people's congress should voluntarily adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), perform its functions according to law and contribute to the development of socialist democracy and political civilization in China, Chinese top legislator Li Peng said Monday in Beijing
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