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SINGAPORE (via PLDT)—Asean leaders are expected to sign
the historic Asean Charter today without any amendments,
after their foreign ministers endorsed the final draft
of the document presented to them by the High Level Task
Force (HLTF) on Monday.
Ambassador Rosario Manalo, Philippine special envoy to
the HLTF that worked on the document, said in an
interview with Philippine media at the Shangri-La Hotel
here that the foreign ministers approved the final draft
that was completed by the HLTF on October 20.
“Usually, when the foreign ministers approve it, they
enjoy the entire confidence of the heads of state. And I
think the heads of state will support it the way it is
endorsed by the foreign ministers....As far as I’m
aware, it looks like it will be as is,” Manalo said.
Asked
how the foreign ministers responded to the final-draft
charter, Manalo said: “They [foreign ministers] welcomed
it, they supported it and they thanked us. One more step
and we’re dissolved as HLTF. We’ve done our jobs.”
She said
there were no dissenting voices from Asean member-states
regarding some controversial provisions of the charter,
specifically on the provision for human-rights promotion
as among the guiding principles of the Asean.
The
particular provision is seen as a deterrent to actions
inimical to democratic principles in the region,
especially in the case of Asean members with a
reputation for human- rights abuse such as Burma.
Manalo
said that among the outcome documents of the 13th Asean
Leaders’ Summit is a political declaration that will
call on all Asean members to comply with the provisions
of the charter and for them to ratify the charter as
soon as possible.
Asked to
comment on criticism that the Asean Charter is nothing
but a “paper tiger” because it does not provide for
explicit sanctions against erring members, Manalo said
the Asean has a way of dealing with its problems.
“They
say the Asean is toothless, but it has a way of doing
things that are very Asean. It cannot be told by others
how to do things. Whether they call it a tiger that’s
toothless or with tooth, who cares? Asean does it the
way that benefits and is convenient to Asean,” Manalo
said.
She said
that under the charter, the final decision on errant
members would rest with the Asean leaders, who can even
raise the matter before the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) if they all agree.
“We do
not have the capacity to set up a regional court,” she
said.
Asked if
cases affecting members can be brought before an
international court if there is a deadlock among the
leaders, Manalo said, “If all parties agree to raise it
to the ICJ.”
Manalo
said the one-year ratification period mentioned by Asean
foreign ministers seem to be a concession to Thailand,
the incoming Asean chair, so that the charter would take
effect in the same country the Asean was founded in 40
years ago.
She said
if that happens, Thanat Khoman, the only surviving
“founding father” of the Asean—a reference to the
foreign ministers of the six original members who signed
the Bangkok Declaration on August 8, 1967—would have the
opportunity to see the Asean in a new, historic chapter.
“If it
is ratified in one year, then by the time it goes to
Bangkok next year, it will go full circle. Asean was
founded there, so this will be the second stage and it
will be historical,” Manalo said.
The
charter, which would turn the Asean into a rules-based
organization with a legal personality, would not take
effect until the last country ratifies it. |
