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HANDING OVER: Mr Jacky Foo (left), director for Asean, Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, submitting the instrument of ratification to Dr Surin in Jakarta. -- PHOTO: MFA
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JAKARTA - NEW Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan plans to spend the next few months travelling to regional capitals, urging them to follow Singapore's example in ratifying the grouping's charter.
Singapore yesterday submitted the instrument of ratification signed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, making it the first country to do so.
And Dr Surin, a former Thai foreign minister, said he will focus on convincing members which had expressed reservations over the charter that would turn the 40-year-old regional grouping into a legal entity.
'We will bring the full force of our expertise to explain and to assure that the charter will be good for the region as a whole,' the veteran politician and academic said at a press conference after taking over from Singapore's Mr Ong Keng Yong at a ceremony in the Indonesian capital.
Mr Ong was posted back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Singapore yesterday.
Dr Surin, a Harvard-educated 58-year-old father of three, said he hopes to have convinced everyone to ratify the charter by November, when Asean holds its next summit in Bangkok - the scene of the first Asean declaration in 1967.
The charter aims to transform the loosely organised 10-member grouping into a more rules-based body with greater clout in international negotiations, but all member states must ratify it first.
Dr Surin was conscious of the delicate task before him in getting the charter ratified, given the reservations expressed by the Philippines during last November's summit.
The Philippines had said it would have difficulties getting the backing of its Congress and people unless Myanmar lived up to the spirit of the document by releasing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Alluding to the problem yesterday, Dr Surin said some member states had expressed reservations out of respect for their parliamentary and constitutional processes.
But describing this as reflective of the diversity of Asean, he said those countries which had no problems with ratification could do so immediately, while those which had to meet constitutional requirements would be given the space to examine the charter.
And he said of Singapore's ratification: 'I think it is going to be good news all over Asean and all over the international community that a member of Asean has already committed itself.'
In a letter to Dr Surin to accompany Singapore's instrument of ratification yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo said: 'The charter is a crucial milestone in Asean's history. Early ratification by Asean countries will send a strong signal to the international community of Asean's seriousness to bring the charter into effect.
'Apart from ratification at the national level, we should proceed with the transitional arrangements needed to implement the charter. It is crucial that we maintain the momentum in taking Asean into its next phase of development.'
Dr Surin, whose four-decade career saw him become Thailand's first Muslim foreign minister - from 1997 to 2001 - is a known critic of Myanmar's military junta, and told The Straits Times late last year that it was time for Asean to take stock of how it handles human rights, democracy and poverty.
But the eight-time Member of Parliament, who also hopes to use his five-year tenure to boost the work of the Asean Regional Forum, the region's top security grouping, yesterday said Asean stood ready to help Myanmar in its dealings with the United Nations on human rights.
'We certainly will not interfere. We certainly will not impose, but we stand by ready, exploring ways and means to help,' he said.
salim@sph.com.sg
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM BERNAMA
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