ASEAN panel to eye mini-constitution

ASEAN panel to eye mini-constitution

SINGAPORE: A 10-member panel of senior ASEAN statesmen looking
into a mini-constitution for the regional grouping will include
Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar, it was announced
on Monday.

The panel will discuss an ASEAN Charter, a constitutional
framework of what the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
wants to become, and help promote integration among members.

The emergence of India and China as economic powerhouses has
created the impetus for greater cooperation among Southeast Asian
nations.

Jayakumar's nomination was disclosed by Foreign Affairs
Minister George Yeo to coincide with ASEAN Day, marking the
grouping's founding on Aug. 8, 1967.

Yeo noted that veteran statesmen have been similarly nominated
by other countries. They include former Indonesian foreign
minister Ali Alatas, former Malaysian deputy prime minister Musa
Hitam and former Philippines president Fidel Ramos.

"Collectively, they constitute a very rich reservoir of
knowledge and experience about ASEAN, and I'm sure they'll be
able to put up very good proposals for the future," The Straits
Times quoted Yeo as saying. "It's going to be quite exciting."

Yeo said that members will increasingly be "doing things under
the ASEAN flag".

Jayakumar and the other members of the group will meet for the
first time in December at the East Asian Summit in Kuala Lumpur.
-- DPA