The Democracy Forum that Alleviate the Challenge Over Pandemic

The13th Bali Democracy Forum will concentrate on the challenges facing democratic countries in the Asia-Pacific region in the midst of COVID-19 in order to give way for ways to overcome the pandemic.

The annual forum, initiated by Indonesia in 2008 aims to turn democracy into a strategic agenda in the Asia-Pacific region. The forum, led by Indonesia, has been facilitating hundreds of meetings and dialogues about democracy and its challenges for 13 years.

Having claimed more than 1.5 million lives worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted hundreds of countries to enact infection control controls. In certain cases, discriminatory laws have prohibited citizens from practicing their civil rights and from upholding democratic principles and practices.

Therefore, Faizasyah shared how the forum is expected to concentrate on finding ways to strike a balance between managing the pandemic and upholding democratic practices, such as ensuring full participation of citizens in elections.

Indonesia and other nations, such as the US, have now learned to organize a secure election in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In view of this, The country’s parallel regional elections were held today in 270 regions, comprising 9 provinces, 224 districts and 37 towns. Among some groups in the region, including health workers and epidemiologists, the holding of elections in the middle of the pandemic has raised concerns.

On few occassions,The General Elections Commission has assured citizens of the strict observance of health protocols at polling stations, which number more than 200,000.

In view of the issue, in the midst of the pandemic, The Forum is anticipated to serve as a platform for other nations to share their experiences and best practices in preserving their democracy. Another thing, The hybrid physical and virtual format will follow the one-day forum, with virtual participants joining the meeting via video conference. Live web broadcasts will be the main attraction.

At the virtual conference, more than 100 delegates announced their attendance.

There are a lot of  international delegations have so far stated that they are attending the 13th Bali Democracy Forum which making it more exciting.

Indonesia, the host country on the other hand has a small physical attendance of 50 people at its venue in Nusa Dua, Bali. However, they find it interesting to look on the progress of how this forum will lead the different countries in overcoming the pandemic.