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Indonesia to host Bali Democracy Forum as virus looms
The theme of this year’s forum will be balancing the practice of democracy with solving challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Domestic tourists spend time at Tegallalang in Gianyar, Bali, on Oct. 28. Visitors are slowly returning to Bali after it reopened in August. (Antara/Fikri Yusuf)
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s COVID-19 cases in Indonesia continue to rise, the government will host the 13th Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) in a hybrid format on Thursday, with a handful foreign ambassadors attending in person while the rest of the delegates participate online.
United Nations secretary general António Guterres and World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus are expected to give prerecorded statements on democracy and its connections to pandemic response, the forum’s organizers have said.
The annual meeting, the biggest of its kind in the region, allows governments to candidly share how democracy is practiced in their respective countries.
It was initiated by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2018 as Indonesia entered its first decade of democracy, after a civil uprising in 1998 that overthrew the dictatorship of then-president Soeharto.
Since then, the informal discussion forum has seen a gradual decline in the number of high-ranking officials in attendance.
Half a dozen foreign ministers from various countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Kenya, attended last year’s event, but as much of the world remains under COVID-19 travel restrictions, this year’s delegates have mostly opted to participate online.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah said on Wednesday that representatives of 24 countries and one international organization based in Jakarta had confirmed their attendance at the event, which is to be opened by Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.
