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WHAT OTHERS SAY: Asean can't ignor
- Subject: WHAT OTHERS SAY: Asean can't ignor
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 22:54:00
Subject: WHAT OTHERS SAY: Asean can't ignore issue of members' lack of
democracy
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Editorial & Opinion
WHAT OTHERS SAY: Asean
can't ignore issue of
members' lack of
democracy
JAKARTA -- With interregional relations
becoming more important as the world
becomes smaller in this cyber era, the
international community cannot but
acknowledge the growing importance of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean) in boosting prosperity, peace and
stability in the region.
Prosperity, because most members of
Asean, which initially comprised only five
members when the association was set up 32
years ago but which has expanded to the
current 10, have achieved a marked growth,
reduced significantly the number of the poor
and improved the living standards of their
people in general.
Peace and stability, because Asean has
succeeded not only in bringing peace to
warring nations, like Cambodia and Vietnam,
but also in persuading them to have friendly
ties before including them as members of the
regional grouping.
It has been an Asean consensus, right from
its establishment in 1967 by the five founding
nations -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- that
members should cooperate constructively to
achieve their common goals regarding the
security and prosperity of their peoples.
Seen from this aspect, despite its lack of
institutional power and a law-making body,
Asean has withstood various challenges while
maintaining its basic principles of
non-interference among its member
countries, regardless of size, culture or creed
as well as political system.
Needless to say that besides its numerous
successes, Asean has also suffered several
setbacks during its arduous journey to its
present widely respected state.
Asean, surely, will not be complacent with all
its achievements considering that greater
challenges loom ahead as it enters the next
millennium. Of this, it has been clearly stated
in the joint communique issued at the closing
of its annual 32nd foreign ministerial meeting
on Saturday. The communique calls for,
among other things, more consolidation and
renewed determination of its members to
strengthen the association.
With the reform movements and political
liberalisation taking place in several countries
in the region -- particularly Indonesia, the
largest Asean member in terms of area and
population -- the association cannot but
review some of its basic policies so as to
adapt to regional and global changes.
In this connection, several questions need to
be raised such as whether the
non-interference policy is still relevant and
applicable to the present situation now that
human interactions have become closer and
information flow faster thanks to the progress
of telecommunications technology. Or
whether it would be beneficial for Asean to
continue to adhere to its ''Asian values''
regarding human rights and democracy.
This is important because countries
contributing most aid to Asean consider
respect for human rights a prerequisite to
receiving a helping hand.
Now that Asean has proposed ''preventive
diplomacy'' in place of the confidence-building
measures it has undertaken thus far, one can
conclude that Asean realises too well that
some of its policies need changing if it wishes
to keep its stature and importance in coping
with the growing challenges.
The recent rising tension between Asean
members who are claimants of a groups of
islands in the South China Sea is a living
example that not all disputes can be settled
through confidence-building alone as some
member countries have violated the
grouping's principles and started building
structures on the disputed islands.
Asean, perhaps, needs to be more bold in
mapping out its overall strategies such as to
reconsider the Philippines' and Thailand's
''constructive intervention'' policy proposal.
Because in an era of growing democracy,
Asean, more likely than not, will have to
constructively intervene in some of its
members' internal affairs if it wishes to enjoy
smooth global cooperation with countries that
truly uphold democracy and justice as well as
respect the dignity of human rights.
The Jakarta Post
.................