Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) yesterday in Taipei launched the Open Parliament Partnership Action Plan in a bid to promote transparency in the Legislative Yuan, increase exchanges with Open Government Partnership (OGP) member states and raise the nation’s international profile.
Citing as examples a “mask map” jointly designed by Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳) and members of the public, and Citizen’s Congress Watch’s routine perusal of recordings of legislative question-and-answer sessions on Parliamentary TV to rate lawmakers’ performance, Lim told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan that the public sector could team up with the private sector to use similar technologies to conduct topic-based analyses using data made available by the legislature, which he said would help usher in a new era of democracy.
This would bring the legislature in line with the targets set by the OGP — whose annual meetings are attended by himself and Tang — boosting the nation’s chances of securing OGP membership, he said.
Photo: CNA
China, with its opaque government, is not very influential in the partnership and cannot ostracize the nation forever, Lim added.
Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) said that he supports the plan.
The Open Parliament e-Network is a spinoff of the OGP and aims to promote openness in parliaments, allow easy access to parliamentary data and digitize parliaments, and the nation should work toward these goals, he said.
The goals conform to his own ideals for the Legislative Yuan: to improve its operations and functions, consolidate democratic values and engage with parliaments of other nations, You said.
An open Legislative Yuan would further boost the nation’s international visibility and status, which would contribute to the goal of making Taiwan a “normalized” nation, he said.
Members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the New Power Party and the Taiwan People’s Party also attended the launch ceremony.
The government should be transparent regarding its decisionmaking process, from cross-caucus talks to appointments and nominations of officials, KMT caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said, adding that the only information that the government should not disclose are state secrets.
The more open and transparent information is, the more developed a democratic nation’s society is, he said.
Although Taiwan is not a member of the OGP, Tang last year at the group’s summit said that the government would draw up an open government action plan on its own initiative, National Development Council Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quei (高仙桂) said.
The plan seeks to release more government data, boost civic participation in policymaking, introduce a mechanism for dialogue between ethnic groups, crack down on money laundering and promote a clean government, she said, adding that practicing these principles would boost the nation’s international space.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or