Severino elected new ASEAN secretary-general

Severino elected new ASEAN secretary-general

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia (JP): Ministers of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) concluded their first day of
meetings here yesterday by electing Filipino Rodolfo C. Severino
as the grouping's new secretary-general replacing Dato' Ajit
Singh.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas told
journalists that Severino would begin his new post on Jan. 1,
1998.

Malaysian Ajit Singh ends his five-year term as secretary-
general at the end of the year. Severino currently serves as
undersecretary of policy for foreign affairs of the Philippines.

The selection was not conducted by open voting. Instead Alatas
was assigned to seek out beforehand the position of respective
members. Alatas then reported his findings to the meeting,
without revealing who supported whom. "Because it would be
unethical," he said.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. This is the
first time Laos and Myanmar attended the meeting as full members
after being admitted Wednesday.

Indonesian foreign ministry's Director General of Political
Affairs Nugroho Wisnumurti said the decision reflected the
members' desire that a secretary-general serve only one term.

"We hope a new man will bring new ideas, a new breeze," he
said.

When pressed further to reveal details of the vote Nugroho
replied: "Well I can't tell you because ASEAN works based on
consensus, even though the consensus was achieved through straw
polling."

Also attending the two-day 30th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting were
Brunei's Foreign Minister Mohamed Bolkiah, Laos' Somsavat
Lengsavad, Malaysia's Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Myanmar's U Ohn
Gyaw, the Philippine's Domingo Siazon, Singapore's S. Jayakumar,
Thailand's Prachuab Chaiyasan and Vietnam's Nguyen Manh Cam.

Present as observers were Cambodian Foreign Minister Ung Huot
and special representative from Papua New Guinea Leonard Louma.

Ministers also agreed yesterday to establish an ASEAN
Foundation, which will be based in Jakarta.

The foundation's objective will be to deepen and widen ASEAN
related activities among people in the region. Activities will be
held jointly between ASEAN and the private sector.

"Its aim is to strengthen ties among ASEAN peoples. With
programs such as exchanges, seminars and educational programs,"
Alatas said.

Ministers also discussed preparations for the year-long ASEAN
30th anniversary celebrations which will be kicked-off by
President Soeharto at a reception in Jakarta on Aug. 8.

Alatas said that in conjunction with the anniversary, heads of
state will present a special citation to the five signatories of
the 1967 Bangkok Declaration which formalized the forming of
ASEAN.

Today, ministers will tackle equally demanding issues. They
include further discussions on Cambodia and a final look at the
joint communique which will be released at the end of the meeting
later this afternoon.

Alatas said ministers would also confer on the draft statement
for the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting which will be held
here on Sunday. "There will still be debates about the draft
statement," he said.

The ARF is a regional political security forum which brings
together ASEAN and its dialog partners.

The ministers meeting was opened yesterday at the posh Sunway
Lagoon Resorts Hotel, outside of Kuala Lumpur, by Malaysian Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

With his customary rhetorical flair, Mahathir lauded ASEAN as
a collection of good governments to be modeled after.

Challenges -- Page 4