DL joins the launch of the AAPO and its parliamentary openness index
With the aim of continuing to build bridges between Latin America and Asia on parliamentary openness, Directorio Legislativo (DL) took part in the first regional meeting of the Asian Alliance for Parliamentary Openness (AAPO), held from 25 to 27 October 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand. The central session, held on 26 October at the Parliament of Thailand, marked the official introduction of the network and the launch of the Asian Parliamentary Openness Index (APOI), the first regional index developed collaboratively to assess the openness of Asia’s parliaments.
Convened by WeVis —on behalf of the AAPO— together with Thai parliamentary committees and the King Prajadhipok’s Institute, the meeting brought together civil society organizations and legislative institutions from ten Asian countries. DL was represented by Juan Krahl, Head of Advocacy, who moderated the panel in which parliamentarians from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Taiwan shared their parliaments’ experiences, and who led the question-and-answer and exchange session among the countries.
“The most valuable part of this gathering is seeing how an entire region organizes itself around a common tool. Latin America walked this path more than a decade ago, and being able to share those lessons with Asia —what worked and also what was hard for us— is exactly the kind of bridge we want to build,” said Krahl.
What are the AAPO and the APOI?
The AAPO is a network of Asian civil society organizations committed to parliamentary monitoring, transparency and legislative openness. Its flagship initiative, the APOI, assesses the region’s parliaments across three dimensions of openness: access to information, accountability and citizen participation. The website is available here.
The APOI draws directly on the Latin American Legislative Transparency Index (ILTL), coordinated by DL within the framework of the Latin American Network for Legislative Transparency (RLTL). DL has accompanied Asia’s organizations in building this network since 2023, contributing more than a decade of regional experience and helping to consolidate a shared language between the two continents. This sustained participation over the years was made possible thanks to the support of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.