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WHAT OTHERS SAY: Asean can't ignor



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 

     .................