Attending The 143rd IPU Session In Madrid, Puan Maharani Will Talk About Challenges To Democracy

Speaker of the House of Representatives Puan Maharani/PHOTO VIA ANTARA

JAKARTA - The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, is scheduled to attend the 143rd session of the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Madrid, Spain. The IPU session was physically attended to formulate joint efforts at the global level in facing common challenges.

In the trial, Puan Maharani will convey a number of things. One of them, as a preparation step for Indonesia to host the 144th international parliamentary forum in Bali.

"The Chairperson of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani will make a speech at the closing session of the Madrid 143rd IPU General Assembly, as well as convey an invitation to all parliaments of IPU member countries to attend the 144th IPU Session on 20-24 March 2022 in Bali, Indonesia," said the Secretary General of the DPR, Indra Iskandar, Wednesday, November 24.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives will also deliver a speech at the General Debate session on the theme Contemporary Challenges to Democracy: Overcoming division and building community.

This meeting aims for 179 member countries to sit together and exchange ideas on various global issues, including the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges and affected the democratic process.

Therefore, according to Indra, DPR Speaker Puan Maharani will talk about the current challenges of democracy. Also regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on democracy, and the role of parliament in maintaining democracy.

“To overcome the challenges faced by various countries in the world, joint efforts are needed both at the national and international levels. Political leadership and solidarity are needed to find new approaches to renew and maintain democracy,” said Indra.

Meanwhile, the agenda for the IPU General Assembly session in Madrid discussed the contemporary challenges of democracy to overcome divisions and build community.

"The members of the IPU will discuss how the role of parliament can maintain the continuity of democracy, especially with the spread of polarization, reduced trust both between and within countries," explained Indra.

The IPU session will be held with various sessions such as the General Debate. In addition, there will be committee meetings including the Executive Committee, Committee on Human Rights of Parliamentarians, Governing Council Bureau of Women Parliamentarians, Forum of Young Parliamentarians and workshops on Good Parliamentary Practices to Promote Interfaith Dialogue.

"In addition, at the Governing Council session, the Chairman of the DPR will convey the results of the session of The First Global Conference on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which has been held in Jakarta on September 28-30, 2021, virtually," explained Indra.

In addition, Puan will convey the intervention in the panel discussion forum on strategies for gender-responsive law making. Puan, will also hold several bilateral meetings, including the Chair of the Spanish Parliament, the President of the IPU, and the Secretary General of the UN WTO.

The 143rd IPU General Assembly will also discuss issues related to human rights. The themes raised are how legislation and policies can address online sexual exploitation of children, and emergency items related to Global Parliamentary Support for the Humanitarian Situation of the Palestinians.