ASEAN engagement the right step

ASEAN engagement the right step

Alexander C. Chandra, Jakarta

The recent Regional Conference on Civil Society Engagement in
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was a step
forward towards the process of democratization and openness in
ASEAN. The conference that was held in Bangkok, on Oct. 3-5,
2005, raised fundamental questions for Southeast Asian civil
society organizations (CSOs) and/or non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) on the relevance in engaging themselves with
a regional grouping that was traditionally known for its
undemocratic and exclusive nature.

Since its establishment in 1967, this was this first time that
ASEAN had begun to show interest in allowing greater
participation of CSOs in its decision-making processes. This was
not, of course, the first time the Association had engaged itself
with non-state actors. Since the early 1980s, ASEAN has allowed
numerous Southeast Asian NGOs to be affiliated with its
activities.

In addition, with the push from the ASEAN Institute for
International and Strategic Studies (ASEAN-ISIS), an umbrella
networking group amongst several influential academic think-tanks
throughout the region, ASEAN had also allowed itself to interact
with NGOs and CSOs through the initiation of the ASEAN's People
Assembly (APA) that has been held four times since 2000.

However, the relation between NGOs and CSOs with ASEAN had
failed to generate substantial changes on the way in which these
groups were able to influence the modus-operandi of the
Association.

The attendance of ASEAN's senior officials and even its
secretary-general, Ong Keng Yong, at this year's conference was
an indication of the Association's rising interest in allowing
greater participation of civil society groups in its decision-
making process.

There were three key questions raised during the Conference,
all of which were relevant in addressing civil society's
engagement with ASEAN.

The first was the way in which Southeast Asian civil society
groups could size up ASEAN as a platform for their advocacy.

The second was the entry point in terms of policy issues and
mechanisms for civil society groups' participation in ASEAN
decision-making processes.

The third was the specific steps that can be taken by civil
society groups to pursue viable engagements with ASEAN.

Amongst some of the issues brought forward into the discussion
were the potential ability of ASEAN to set the pace of
development in the Southeast Asian region, the possible expansion
of ASEAN into ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea, the
policy-making process in ASEAN, trade and economic issues,
conflict prevention, human rights issues and media. And the
hottest issue was Myanmar's political situation.

It was, of course, a difficult task for civil society groups
to reach commonality amongst themselves within short period of
interaction. The variety of civil society groups that attended
the Conference was, particularly, responsible for such
difficulty.

To start with, every single civil society has different
concerns and interests in engaging itself with ASEAN. Apart from
that, not all civil society groups attended this Conference were
fully aware of the traditions, culture and mechanisms of ASEAN.

Initially, many of these groups expressed pessimism towards
the way in which the Association could actually improve the well-
being of Southeast Asian people. Some activists even openly
questioned ASEAN's ability to accommodate their interests in
light of its cardinal principle of non-interference. This last
issue was often seen as an element that undermined ASEAN's role
in advancing the interests of Southeast Asian people.

Civil society groups advocating human rights and Burma issues,
for example, were convinced that the non-interference principle
had been the key stumbling block for ASEAN in resolving many
human rights abuses in the region.

Meanwhile, many groups advocating trade and economic related
issues were also concerned about the way in which this principle
had allowed each individual ASEAN member country to undertake a
bilateral free trade agreement strategy with non-ASEAN member
countries. It was seen as a move that might undermine the
cohesion of the regional grouping.

Despite these concerns and pessimism towards ASEAN, there
seemed to be a consensus amongst representatives of Southeast
Asian civil society groups that it was, indeed, necessary for
these groups to engage themselves with ASEAN. After all, ASEAN's
failure to fulfill the aspirations of these civil society groups
in the past was not only due to the lack of pressure by these
groups towards ASEAN, but also due to the limited interactions
between both sides.

Southeast Asian Civil society groups would certainly welcome
further efforts by ASEAN to open itself up and to allow much
greater participation of non-governmental actors in its decision-
making processes. The next challenge for these groups is to
identify the way in which they could assist ASEAN in resolving
problems that confront the region.

The writer is the research coordinator at the Institute of
Global Justice (IGJ) in Jakarta.