Jakarta – Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Agency (BKSAP), Fadli Zon, questioned the double standards in democracy, especially in relation to efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
This was revealed during the SDG 16 panel discussion at the IPU UN Parliamentary Forum at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development at the UN Headquarters, New York.
“If we talk about efforts to strengthen parliament to realize SDG 16, it means we are investing in democracy. How can we talk about democracy, when there are double standards about democracy and human rights violations, including the blatant neglect of democratic countries towards genocide in front of our eyes?” said Fadli in his written statement, Wednesday (17/7/2024).
He stated this to the panelists who were representatives of UNDP, the Chilean Senate, and the International Budget Partnership, in the first session related to SDG 16 “Investing in Parliament as Key Institutions of Governance”.
Fadli Zon highlighted that conflict situations such as the one in Gaza worsen the achievement of SDG 16, especially when international rules are no longer respected. Such events can cause widespread protests and reduce public confidence in democracy. “If not accommodated, public trust will be further eroded, damaging the already fragile trust,” he added.
According to him, a strong and inclusive parliament is needed to strengthen democracy. This can be achieved through efforts to strengthen public aspirations through meaningful public participation, where people’s opinions and complaints need to be heard, considered and responded to. “A transparent and open parliament needs to be supported by basic legislation such as the Law on Public Participation and the Law on Information Disclosure,” he said.
Fadli also explained that the House of Representatives has initiated the Open Parliament movement since 2018, which encourages changes to the Law on the Formation of Legislation by ensuring that public participation is accommodated at every stage of law making. “Not only that, the discussion of the Asset Forfeiture Bill can substantively provide a legal basis for SDG target 16.4 related to the recovery and return of stolen assets,” added the Chairman of the DPR RI BKSAP Delegation.
In addition, the BKSAP Delegation also paid a courtesy call to the President of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Dennis Francis, and met with other stakeholders such as UN Water and the International Institute on Sustainable Development (IISD).
With these various efforts, it is hoped that a strong and inclusive democracy can be realized, supporting the achievement of sustainable development goals and strengthening peace and justice in various countries.
