HANOI, April 8 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian leaders will talk about building a strong economic and political community on Thursday at an annual summit clouded by unrest in Thailand and Myanmar's widely derided election plans.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was due to arrive for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' summit after declaring a state of emergency on Wednesday to control a month-long anti-government protest aimed at forcing an election.
The 10-member ASEAN has been largely focused on economic and diplomatic issues since it was founded in 1967 at the height of the Vietnam War.
But in 2008, it adopted a charter that turned the region of 580 million people with a combined GDP of $2.7 trillion into a rules-based bloc that aims to become a political, economic and security community over the next five years.
Foreign and economic ministers on Wednesday agreed on a number of technical issues relating to their Charter, including a Dispute Settlement Mechanism. A statement issued on Thursday described it as "an important document that, among others, serves to complete the legal framework as laid down by the Charter".
It allows an ASEAN country, disputing how a fellow member is implementing the charter, to take the issue to a third party for mediation.
The mechanism could be used to help settle territorial disputes. For instance, Thailand and Cambodia have skirmished along their border over ownership of an ancient Hindu temple.
But it could also be used to pile pressure on Myanmar to uphold its human rights commitments ahead of elections, the Jakarta Post reported on Thursday.
The newspaper quoted Rafendi Djamin, Indonesia's representative on the ASEAN human rights commission, as saying the dispute mechanism was an option Jakarta could resort to if the junta doesn't hold inclusive elections -- including allowing detailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to participate.
MYANMAR GRILLING
Myanmar will be asked to explain its widely dismissed election plans when the leaders meet on Thursday and Friday, Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told reporters after arriving in Hanoi on Wednesday.
He said ASEAN foreign ministers at a working dinner on Wednesday would question their Myanmar colleague about an election that ASEAN has repeatedly demanded be "fair and inclusive".
"Questions about elections and how it would affect ASEAN will be raised. There are still points we want to make. We want to see a free, fair and inclusive election and the big question is whether that can be achieved and how," Kasit said.
Indonesia and the Philippines have been highly critical of Myanmar's election laws, which ban political prisoners, such as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, from running.
Her National League for Democracy, which won the last polls in 1990 by a landslide but was kept from governing, is boycotting this one. The junta has so far kept the polling date a secret.
Vietnam, a one-party communist state that has jailed a number of dissidents recently, is not keen to see Myanmar in the spotlight over its record when it chairs the annual ASEAN leaders meeting. Like Myanmar itself, Hanoi does not believe in interfering in another country's internal affairs.
ASEAN has never censured Myanmar over its rights record and is unlikely to do so this time. But Kasit's comments are a strong indication that Myanmar will feature on the summit agenda.
"The Myanmar issue still presents a problem when we want to take ASEAN forward to negotiate and deal with other groupings and countries," Kasit said. "It presents a major limitation for us."
"Myanmar knows very well what the issues and reservations are. A few countries in ASEAN have been speaking quite directly about these issues so we hope to hear from them."
(Additional reporting by Ambika Ahuja; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was due to arrive for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' summit after declaring a state of emergency on Wednesday to control a month-long anti-government protest aimed at forcing an election.
The 10-member ASEAN has been largely focused on economic and diplomatic issues since it was founded in 1967 at the height of the Vietnam War.
But in 2008, it adopted a charter that turned the region of 580 million people with a combined GDP of $2.7 trillion into a rules-based bloc that aims to become a political, economic and security community over the next five years.
Foreign and economic ministers on Wednesday agreed on a number of technical issues relating to their Charter, including a Dispute Settlement Mechanism. A statement issued on Thursday described it as "an important document that, among others, serves to complete the legal framework as laid down by the Charter".
It allows an ASEAN country, disputing how a fellow member is implementing the charter, to take the issue to a third party for mediation.
The mechanism could be used to help settle territorial disputes. For instance, Thailand and Cambodia have skirmished along their border over ownership of an ancient Hindu temple.
But it could also be used to pile pressure on Myanmar to uphold its human rights commitments ahead of elections, the Jakarta Post reported on Thursday.
The newspaper quoted Rafendi Djamin, Indonesia's representative on the ASEAN human rights commission, as saying the dispute mechanism was an option Jakarta could resort to if the junta doesn't hold inclusive elections -- including allowing detailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to participate.
MYANMAR GRILLING
Myanmar will be asked to explain its widely dismissed election plans when the leaders meet on Thursday and Friday, Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told reporters after arriving in Hanoi on Wednesday.
He said ASEAN foreign ministers at a working dinner on Wednesday would question their Myanmar colleague about an election that ASEAN has repeatedly demanded be "fair and inclusive".
"Questions about elections and how it would affect ASEAN will be raised. There are still points we want to make. We want to see a free, fair and inclusive election and the big question is whether that can be achieved and how," Kasit said.
Indonesia and the Philippines have been highly critical of Myanmar's election laws, which ban political prisoners, such as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, from running.
Her National League for Democracy, which won the last polls in 1990 by a landslide but was kept from governing, is boycotting this one. The junta has so far kept the polling date a secret.
Vietnam, a one-party communist state that has jailed a number of dissidents recently, is not keen to see Myanmar in the spotlight over its record when it chairs the annual ASEAN leaders meeting. Like Myanmar itself, Hanoi does not believe in interfering in another country's internal affairs.
ASEAN has never censured Myanmar over its rights record and is unlikely to do so this time. But Kasit's comments are a strong indication that Myanmar will feature on the summit agenda.
"The Myanmar issue still presents a problem when we want to take ASEAN forward to negotiate and deal with other groupings and countries," Kasit said. "It presents a major limitation for us."
"Myanmar knows very well what the issues and reservations are. A few countries in ASEAN have been speaking quite directly about these issues so we hope to hear from them."
(Additional reporting by Ambika Ahuja; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
3 comments:
Such a novel idea that ASEAN is trying to build economic and political commnunity.
How about cultural integration?
There is still deep resentment between Khmer and Vietnamese, and Khmer and Thais. The later is still trying to resolve border conflict.
How about the Phillippines and Malaysia border dispute?
I don't know if having an ASEAN integrated economy is enough for these multitude of nationals to put aside cultural and historical differences and unite under a banner of common community.
If they can pull it off I think it would be a benefit to the region.
Ok! 2 more years! where will we have the party?
what counts is to move forward despite difficulties.
future generations will better understand and admit that the generation to day find incomprehensible and unacceptable.
it is the law of evolution.
in the 1960s who believes that a black will be president of united states?
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