Put people first in ASEAN charter<\/p>\n
Michael Vatikiotis, The Straits Times, Asia News Network\/Singapore<\/p>\n
If the European experience is any measure, a bid by Southeast
\nAsian nations to frame a Constitution is doomed to failure. But
\nperhaps lessons will be learnt from the European Union's ill-
\nfated Constitution.<\/p>\n
In the first place, the decision by foreign ministers of all
\n10 members of ASEAN to draw up a charter is to be warmly
\nwelcomed. Since its inception in 1967, ASEAN has run its
\ndeliberations on vaguely worded conventions and reached decisions
\nawkwardly through consensus. \"Diplomacy by feel\" is how former
\nASEAN secretary-general Rodolfo Severino describes the style.<\/p>\n
It tends to reduce areas of agreement to their lowest common
\ndenominator, weakening mechanisms for free trade and protecting
\nauthoritarian regimes like Myanmar's.<\/p>\n
But times have changed, says Severino, a veteran diplomat from
\nthe Philippines. He points to the region's urgent need to deepen
\neconomic integration to stay competitive with emerging India and
\nChina. There are also tricky issues that cut across boundaries
\nand need regulating: Migration, pollution and conflict, for
\nexample.<\/p>\n
\"To tackle these issues, you need rules,\" he says. \"You need
\nsome agreement and concord on a set of common values.\"<\/p>\n
Indeed, it is a good time to embark on a search for common
\nvalues in the region. The consolidation of democracy in
\nIndonesia, ASEAN's largest state, has finally set an irreversible
\npolitical course for the region. Most members states, with one or
\ntwo notable exceptions, are now firmly democratic.<\/p>\n
There is weakening support for the once hallowed principle of
\nnon-interference as forest fires raging in one country bring
\nnoxious haze to another and call for collective action. The
\ntsunami last year forged a new willingness among neighbors to
\nhelp one another in times of crisis, and reinforced the need for
\nsome kind of common security policy.<\/p>\n
So what spirit would an ASEAN charter embody? Perhaps the most
\nfundamental principle is one that European charter writers
\nneglected to highlight and hence found their work rejected in
\npopular polls: The people of the region must come first. They
\nmust be consulted on what they want their collective home of some
\n500 million citizens to stand for.<\/p>\n
Conservatives will say that the majority of people have no
\nidea what ASEAN is. But if asked, most likely the people of
\nSoutheast Asia would like to see a strong affirmation of freedom
\nand human rights somewhere pretty high up in the preamble.<\/p>\n
Next, it is fair to assume that for ASEAN to make sense as a
\ncohesive region, there has to be a strong commitment to
\nintegration. It is one thing to declare that ASEAN will be a
\nsingle community by 2020 and quite another to bring this about as
\nmember states continue to insist on excluding one kind of
\ncommodity or manufacture or another. Intra-regional trade is
\nstill only a quarter of ASEAN's total volume compared to more
\nthan 70 percent in Europe.<\/p>\n
Finally, there should probably be a firm provision for
\nsanctioning members who do not conform to the charter. ASEAN's
\nprestige has suffered greatly from Myanmar's recalcitrance on
\npolitical reform. There are many in the region who would have
\nliked to see military junta expelled from the group. This is what
\nwould have happened under a rules-based charter with a provision
\nfor basic standards of political behavior.<\/p>\n
It is too early to say how much of this wish list will be
\nincorporated in the draft charter to be considered by ASEAN
\nleaders at the end of 2007. We know that a group of eminent
\npersons will first meet to consider the broad outlines of the
\ndocument. They will report on their deliberations at the end of
\nnext year. The charter itself will be drawn up by government
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
The hope is that this cautious two-step process is not a
\nformula for protecting vested political interests and avoiding
\ndiplomatic sensitivities. Rather, those tasked with the job
\nshould seek a wide range of views from all sections of society.
\nThe model could be something like the way Thailand's liberal
\nConstitution was drafted in 1996 with the help of public debates.<\/p>\n
There are encouraging signs that ASEAN's leaders are becoming
\nmore sensitive to their people's wishes. Delegates from an
\nofficially sanctioned summit of civil-society groups on the
\nsidelines of this year's East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur will
\nmeet ASEAN leaders in a formal session.<\/p>\n
Current ASEAN secretary-general Ong Keng Yong is confident
\nthat the leaders will listen to what they have to say. \"The ASEAN
\nsociety has matured,\" he says. \"There is a recognition on the
\npart of our leaders that the monopoly of ideas in government can
\nno longer be sustained.\"<\/p>\n
If that is true, then there is hope for an ASEAN charter.<\/p>\n
The writer is a visiting research fellow at the Institute of
\nSoutheast Asian Studies.<\/p>",
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