Cambodia in unceremoniously

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

HANOI (JP): Leaders and officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) insisted on Wednesday that Cambodia was now a member of the grouping despite the unceremonious nature of its admission.

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Man Camh said the leaders made a "very clear and definite decision" during the dinner meeting here on Monday night to admit Cambodia.

"So everybody should consider Cambodia as the 10th member of ASEAN," he asserted.

He contended that there was only the "procedural issue" of an acceptance ceremony left.

"The leaders have instructed their foreign ministers to organize of the admission ceremony which will be held in Hanoi," Camh told journalists.

Cambodia's admission was the most contentious issue in the run-up to the sixth ASEAN summit which began on Tuesday in Hanoi.

During presummit meetings, ministers were split on whether to admit Cambodia during the summit.

Cambodia was initially due to join in July 1997 along with Laos and Myanmar, but domestic political turmoil, which climaxed with the ouster of copremier Prince Norodom Ranariddh by Hun Sen, forced ASEAN to delay the Phnom Penh government's entry to the regional grouping.

With the formation of a coalition government in Phnom Penh last month, Cambodia was again staking a claim for entry.

Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines were adamant that entry should be postponed pending further political developments in Cambodia.

Host Vietnam and Indonesia were strong proponents of Cambodia's early admission.

The apparent compromise to accept but delay the formal admission ceremony allowed all parties, including Cambodian Premier Hun Sen who is in Hanoi, to save face and maintain their respective positions.

The fact, however, remains that during the opening ceremony Hun Sen was not seated with the other leaders and given a front row seat in the audience in his status as special observer.

Welcome

Indonesian President B.J. Habibie made no qualms about welcoming Cambodia into ASEAN in his statement at the opening ceremony.

"May I seize this opportunity to join my colleagues in warmly welcoming the Kingdom of Cambodia to the ASEAN family as a full member," said Habibie who late Monday night was given the task to inform Hun Sen of ASEAN's decision.

Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, in his address at the opening ceremony, welcomed the decision to admit Cambodia but hinted that full admission was still pending a formal ceremony.

"We in Thailand look forward to the special meeting of the ASEAN foreign ministers in Hanoi where the long-held aspiration of an ASEAN-10 will finally be fulfilled," he said.

Camh told journalists later that the formal acceptance ceremony could be held in two to four weeks.

Sources here divulged a statement proclaiming the admission of Cambodia had been added as the second-point of the Hanoi Declaration which will be adopted at the end of the summit on Wednesday.

Officials here would not say whether during the "preparations" for the acceptance ceremony Cambodia would be required to fulfill certain domestic requirements, such as the establishment of a senate.

Camh said Hun Sen "had reassured ASEAN leaders that all conditions for Cambodia's admission had been met".

"Those assurances have led to the decision that the leaders have made," Camh added.

Some Cambodians, however, gave different reactions to the unceremonious admission of their country into ASEAN.

An executive director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, Kao Kim Hourn, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying on Tuesday that the military confrontation that shook Phnom Penh 17 months ago when Ranariddh was deposed might have been too fresh in the memories of some ASEAN leaders.

"A delay is a delay. Membership has been delayed with an ASEAN way of face-saving, but in the end it shows that there was no consensus," Kim Hourn said.

Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy, a close ally of Ranariddh, said in a statement released on Tuesday that he welcomed ASEAN's decision to delay Cambodia's membership. Sam Rainsy said concerns of stability in the new Cambodian coalition aired by Thailand, Singapore and Thailand were legitimate.

"The timing of this admission must depend on Cambodia's stability, a satisfactory and equitable resolution of power- sharing issues, the maturation of effective legal institutions, the rule of law and respect for human rights," the statement said in part.