The Parliamentary Centre in Asia

Parliaments in Progress in Southeast Asia

By Tim Colby

There are three basic functions of parliament: legislative, oversight, and representative. In turn, it is the quality and efficiency by which these functions are carried out that is the hallmark of an effective parliament. Creating and maintaining the policies, procedures and structures for an effective parliament is a challenging and never-ending task.

The following comment by Muhaimin Iskandar, Vice Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, demonstrates the level of awareness and concern of many responsible parliamentarians in the region:

"(The House of Representatives) as a lawmaking and control body, is one of the most strategic institutions that should fully function as one of the pillars of a national integrity system. (But)…this role is not fully operational because of obstacles in upholding the law."

The comment was made during one of several SEAFILD sponsored events which b ring parliamentarians from the region together to attend workshops, discuss best practices and lessons learned, and receive training. As part of the process SEAFILD has also introdued Southeast Asian parliamentarians to their colleagues from around the world. This has been instrumental in helping these elected officials improve their skills and knowledge on a varity of issues, including critical parliamentary policies and procedures.

The network of parliamentarians in Southeast Asia who are working to promote good governance practices is growing. SEAFILD's activities provide these champions with a platform/opportunity to exert their influence.

One such former participant of the Parliamentary Centre seminars supported by SEAFILD/CIDA, IS Dr. Suthin Nophaket, who was recently appointed to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand. Dr. Suthin chaired the Thai Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights and is a tireless advocate of human rights education. Until recently, he earned his living running a management training institute with his wife and has participated in CIDA-supported activities for a decade. Dr. Suthin has been trying to get human rights education integrated into Thai school curriculum.

According to Eki Syanchrudin of Indonesia, personal motivation was the key result of his participation at the Centre's 1998 global seminar on corruption. At the time he was a member of parliament in Indonesia and reasonably outspoken on various issues. After he returned home he began to speak out on corruption issues in particular and raised many questions during committee budget hearings. He said, "When I returned to Indonesia, I felt very motivated, and it is in the interest of our people and government, to fight corruption. The Canadian experience in holding its good and clean governance and modern attitude towards transparency, surely, would be an important part in his contribution which I can share with other colleagues in Indonesia in fighting corruption".

Since that time he has become known for hias anti-corruption stance and has recently been appointed as Indonesian Ambassador to Canada where he is working with the Centre to help develop new counter-corruption activities for Indonesian parliamentarians. It should be noted that following the seminar in 1998 he was taken on a personal mini-study tour of Canadian agencies dealing with oversight and financial regulation. He brought back several ideas from these institutions and discussed these during committee hearings on the national budget in the Indonesian parliament.

As the parliaments of Southeast Asia grow stronger so to will each nations' ability to promote and protect human rights, to govern effectively , and develop democratically. The headlines involving parliament may become less sensationalistic, yet this is something few will complain about.