Singapore (VNA) - Former Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ong Keng Yong shared his views of the 41st General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA 41) as well as the role of host Vietnam in regional inter-parliamentary diplomacy.

According to the former ASEAN chief, this time’s general assembly could focus on enhancing AIPA’s structure to support ASEAN in its Community building process; and convincing their respective governments to strengthen the process of Community building and the ASEAN platforms already in place to implement the agenda of ASEAN.

Currently, AIPA and ASEAN only engage each other on informal platforms, he said.

He suggested the current Interface with ASEAN Leaders at the Summit should be held regularly; one or two practical proposals from AIPA could be tabled for an exchange of views with the ASEAN Leaders each time the Interface takes place.

Besides, he said, the ASEAN-AIPA Dialogue at the AIPA General Assembly should also be formalised and public awareness programmes can be instituted to outreach the citizens in the respective ASEAN member states.

Sharing his views about the role of inter-parliamentary diplomacy in strengthening ASEAN's cohesion and responsiveness to deal with regional and international challenges, Ong said unlike the European Union (EU), where the European Parliament is the legislative body that passes bills/laws, AIPA is not the legislative body of ASEAN.

As each ASEAN member state has its own process in passing international/regional commitments into national laws, the pace of ratification of regional agreements among ASEAN member states often varied.

The former ASEAN chief held that AIPA could bridge this gap by facilitating and pushing ratification/implementation of regional agreements in the legislative body of each ASEAN member state. 

In the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the ASEAN Leaders have adopted Hanoi Plan of Action at their recent Summit, he said, adding AIPA may wish to use the forthcoming General Assembly to monitor and report on how each ASEAN member state has incorporated this Plan into their respective national laws; and to use the General Assembly for sharing best practices of ASEAN member states in handling COVID-19.

He spoke of the Vietnamese National Assembly’s initiatives introduced at this time’s event such as unofficial Meeting of Young Parliamentarians.

He said he believes this is useful and relevant in bringing ASEAN closer to ASEAN citizens, especially the younger generation.

Vietnam’s COVID-19 measures are useful learning experiences which the younger citizens of other ASEAN member states can discuss and adapt when possible, he affirmed.

The 41st General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-41) themed “Parliamentary diplomacy for a cohesive and responsive ASEAN Community” is taking place virtually from September 8-10./.