'RI must explain ASC to ASEAN members'

'RI must explain ASC to ASEAN members'

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The concept of the ASEAN Security Community (ASC), which was
proposed by Indonesia and included in Bali Concord II, a
declaration issued at the end of the ASEAN Summit in October
2003, should be clarified further so that other ASEAN member
countries can fully accept its implementation, an expert says.

"There is a lack of clarity over ASC because Indonesia has not
adequately explained the concept. This unclear message can be
seen in the concord, which has many contradictions and
loopholes," said CSIS director of studies Rizal Sukma on the
sidelines of the conference of the Council for Security
Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) here on Tuesday.

He pointed out that Indonesia, on the one hand, proposed
conflict resolution and peace building as mechanisms in ASC but
on the other hand did not want to modify the noninterference
principle inherited from the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) founding fathers.

ASEAN's noninterference principle states that each ASEAN
member country should respect the sovereignty of other member
nations and prohibits intervention by member countries.

"The noninterference principle that we inherited from the
first concord is so rigid. We should make it flexible so that
internal security problems can be discussed without creating
misunderstanding among ASEAN members," said Rizal.

He then proposed that Indonesia should elaborate on ASC
principles in the Bali concord such as norm-setting, conflict
prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict peace building
so that other members could understand the concept better.

"Indonesia should explain what is norm-setting. If we make the
noninterference principle flexible then we must make sure that
interference doesn't occur in an arbitrary way and without the
consent of the respective country," Rizal added.

The same goes with the other principles. Indonesia must
explain what conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post-
conflict peace building mean as well as their respective
activities, he said.

"For example, what mechanism do we apply in conflict
resolution and conflict prevention? Are the current mechanisms
enough?" said Rizal.

He argued that the ASC should be pursued because every member
country would benefit from its implementation.

"Within this community, every potential conflict can be
prevented and solved in a peaceful way," he said.

He also stressed that this community would also facilitate
problem solving among the members through formal and legal
channels, not merely through political avenues.

"Currently, security cooperation between ASEAN member
countries is carried out in informal bilateral or trilateral
relations," said Rizal.

He said that the plan of action was currently being formulated
by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and hoped this plan would be
completed by the time Jakarta hosted the ASEAN Ministerial
Meeting in June next year.