Terrorism not in AIPO agenda
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Legislators from ASEAN countries will begin their four-day meeting here on Monday amid fears of possible fresh terrorist attacks ahead of the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States in 2001.
The meeting would discuss several strategic issues, including transnational crime, migrant workers, and maritime cooperation among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, in his capacity as president of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO), is scheduled to open the meeting in a ceremony to be attended by President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Delegates from ASEAN members and several observers have confirmed their participation in the meeting which last until Friday.
ASEAN consists of Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, Myanmar, and Brunei Darussalam.
Legislators from Myanmar and Brunei Darussalam, however, will join the 24th AIPO meeting as observers, alongside delegates from the so-called dialog partners China, Japan, and South Korea.
"This is an annual meeting that has been organized since 1978," Indonesian legislator Prasetya told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Terrorism is conspicuously absent from the lawmakers' agenda, despite the fact that some ASEAN members, notably Indonesia and the Philippines, had become easy targets of terrorist attacks.
At least 202 people were killed when two powerful bombs went off at two popular nightclubs in Denpasar, Bali last Oct. 12. Last Aug. 5, a car bomb exploded in the driveway of the JW Marriot Hotel in South Jakarta, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 140 others.
Security personnel have been on a high alert following terrorist threats ahead of the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in Washington and New York, both in the United States.
Prasetya, deputy chairman of the House of Representatives' Inter Parliamentary Cooperation Body (BKSAP), said the legislators would also discuss legislation on the implementation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).
As soon as the legislators end their meeting on Friday, Akbar Tandjung will hand over the AIPO presidency to the Cambodian delegate. Akbar received the AIPO chairmanship from Vietnam last year.
Prasetya, who is from the military/police faction, said the delegates would convene in four committees to discuss political, economic, social, and organizational matters respectively.
Two other committees will hold discussions with observers from Brunei Darussalam, Myanmar, Japan, Korea, and China and will prepare a joint statement to be issued at the end of the meeting.
Apart from discussing transnational crime, migrant workers, and maritime cooperation, the delegates would also discuss efforts to strengthen the role of the United Nations, the implementation of the AFTA, the establishment of an ASEAN Anti- Poverty Fund, and efforts to combat the drug menace.
The Malaysian delegate has proposed establishing a special committee on the Golden Triangle.
The meeting will also hear the report by the Cambodian Delegation on the 36th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in June 2003.
Lawmakers will also discuss economic cooperation and comprehensive partnership between ASEAN and China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.
In the meantime, the organizational committee will discuss the amendment to the AIPO statute and a report by the Philippines delegate on the feasibility of establishing an ASEAN Parliament.
Parliamentarians will discuss gender equality and the role of women as political leaders in the globalization era, the role of women in the media to help solve the problems confronted by women, and the role of women in accelerating sustainable development.