ASEAN's grim anniversary

President Megawati Soekarnoputri, in her speech to the People's Consultative Assembly last Friday, sent a strong message to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- this year chaired by Indonesia -- that Indonesia would soon resume its strong leadership in the regional grouping, as the country's domestic situation had improved. The message has been long awaited by other member countries, because the absence of Indonesia's effective leadership has strongly affected the regional group's effectiveness.

The President's assurance will be welcome to ASEAN, which celebrates its 36th anniversary on Aug. 8. However, the terrorist attack on JW Marriot Hotel on Tuesday again ruined hopes that full recovery and revival of the regional grouping was near at hand.

Last year, ASEAN leaders demonstrated their solidarity to Indonesia by announcing their readiness to attend the ASEAN annual summit in Bali this October, shortly after the barbaric attack in Bali on Oct. 12, which killed 202 people. Despite Tuesday's tragedy, the ASEAN summit will go ahead as scheduled, as confirmed by ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong.

Tuesday's blast again showed that terrorism remains the greatest threat to security for ASEAN members, although they have worked hard to eradicate terrorist links in the region. When ASEAN celebrates its anniversary on Friday, it will provide some much-needed momentum for the member countries to boost their cooperation in the war against terrorism, because they have made little progress thus far.

The world is saddened by the tragic death of innocent victims at JW Marriot Hotel. Tragedies like this, however, will continue to occur in this region as long as ASEAN members fail to eradicate the roots of terrorism -- made worse when a country like Indonesia feels it can resolve the problems on its own, demanding its friends not interfere in its own affairs.

A message to Myanmar's military junta to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to dominate the 36th anniversary. However, Tuesday's bombing has, not surprisingly, sidelined the issue.

When the economic crisis hit Asia in 1997 and Soeharto was forced to end his 31-year rule, ASEAN's role also drastically declined in the international arena. After that, doubts grew, even among the member countries, on whether it was still necessary to maintain the existence of the regional grouping.

The Sept. 11 tragedy in 2001 and the Bali bombing became strong factors in uniting ASEAN members again, given the threats they mutually faced. Western countries then realized the strategic importance of the association to their direct security. But as long as ASEAN remains busy dealing with security matters the chances of economic recovery remain questionable.

When Megawati hosts the Bali Summit in October, ASEAN leaders, along with leaders in China, Japan and South Korea, will hope they will have a chance to listen to her grand strategy as ASEAN chairman. But under the current circumstances what else can ASEAN expect from her leadership for the region?

We would like to remind ASEAN countries that it is in their own interest to continue helping Indonesia because a weakened Indonesia will eventually threaten their national interest. We also hope that Indonesia will be able to resolve its own problems by working much harder to clean up its messy home.

Happy anniversary, ASEAN!