GMA admits drafting Asean charter won’t be easy

DAVOS, Switzerland (via PLDT) — It would be hard for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to come up with a legally binding charter given its policy on non-interference on members’ internal affairs, President Arroyo admitted here Friday.

But she said during an hour-long panel discussion at the World Economic Forum that the regional bloc was committed to face the challenges of crafting a mini-constitution.

Mrs. Arroyo also said ASEAN leaders are determined to steer the regional grouping toward economic integration by 2015 and transform it into a single market and a formidable trading bloc in the world.

ASEAN groups the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.

The business community praised the ASEAN for its efforts to come up with a pro-democracy charter and for striving to become a single and cohesive economic community.

Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda and Air Asia chief executive officer Tony Fernandes described the developments as encouraging during a working luncheon on the ASEAN Economic Roadmap.

Jusuf Wanandi, a member of the board of trustees and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Indonesia, said that as an observer he was impressed with the alliance’s latest initiatives.

He warned that ASEAN’s credibility would suffer if it fails to deliver on its plans. He said ASEAN might even end up toning down its planned charter just to keep its non-interference policy.

"I can see that we will be having a great debate on some of the proposals of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) particularly on the sanctions and that’s why I agree with Mr. Wanandi’s suggestion that we should not just leave it to the middle level officials,’’ Mrs. Arroyo said, reacting to Wanandi’s position.

"At the very least, our foreign ministers will be actively involved in the making of the ASEAN charter," Mrs. Arroyo said.

The EPG submitted its recommendation for an ASEAN charter during the ASEAN summit in Cebu from Jan. 10 to 14. A charter could transform ASEAN into a rules-based organization with the power to penalize or even expel erring members.

Included in the EPG recommendation was the rejection of unconstitutional and undemocratic means of changing governments.