Limit on secretary-general term 'must be transparent'

Limit on secretary-general term 'must be transparent'

By Santi WE Soekanto & Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

PETALING JAYA (JP): Outgoing ASEAN Secretary General Dato
Ajit Singh said it should be made transparent if member states
want a secretary general to serve only one term.

"Let it be known clearly before the secretary general comes
in that he's only there for one term so at least he knows from
the beginning that is his fixed term and then he can prepare
himself," Ajit Singh said here yesterday.

Speaking a day after ASEAN ministers announced that he would
be replaced by Philippine undersecretary for foreign affairs
Rodolfo Severino, Ajit said he was in favor if ministers wanted
to make such limitations, but such conditions should be made
clear beforehand.

"If there's agreement among the member countries that the
secretary general's term is one term, then it makes it easier for
everybody and we would not have to go through the sort of
situation that I was faced with," Ajit Singh told The Jakarta
Post.

ASEAN leaders in 1992 elevated the usually administrative
post of the secretary general to ministerial status. The
selection of the candidate was also changed from a rotational
basis to one based on merit with no limitations on the number of
terms served.

Based on these changes, Ajit Singh was renominated for the
five-year post which ends in December. If elected he would have
been the first secretary general to serve two terms.

In customary conciliatory fashion, ASEAN ministers avoided an
open vote in selecting the candidate. Instead, Indonesian foreign
minister Ali Alatas was assigned to privately seek the views of
member states and tally who had more support.

ASEAN currently groups Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

According to an Indonesian official, ministers apparently did
desire someone to serve two-terms as secretary general.

When asked whether he thought the decision had now set a
precedent, Ajit Singh said: "This now will have to be left to the
ministers to decide whether they will amend the protocol."

Speaking to journalists earlier, Ajit Singh reminisced fondly
on the past five years.

"I have enjoyed working as secretary general of ASEAN... I
have had a good run," he said.

Asked whether he would still be involved in ASEAN activities
when Severino takes over his seat on Jan. 1, 1997, Ajit Singh
said: "I can't really get ASEAN out of my life... I will always
be available to assist in anyway I can.

"In the 33 years that I've been involved with diplomacy,
eight years have been with ASEAN. And therefore this has been a
very intense involvement in ASEAN," he said.

In a tone of relief rather than disappointment at knowing the
outcome of the election, he said he had "no remorse or sorrow
over the decision taken".

In typical ASEAN camaraderie, Ajit Singh hailed Severino's
election. "I think it's a good idea that the stewardship is run
by someone else."