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FOREIGN Minister George Yeo is confident that all member countries will ratify the Asean Charter by the December summit in Bangkok.
He explained: 'Every country in Asean knows that each does better, each is more competitive, each is more secure by there being a stronger Asean.'
Therefore, despite domestic problems in many countries, 'the will to push on the Asean construction remains strong and unwavering', he told the Singapore media at an interview ahead of the the Asean Ministerial Meeting (AMM) next week.
However, he acknowledged that 'it will be a setback' if ratification by all 10 members is not achieved by the year's end. 'We need all 10 countries to ratify before the Charter can come into force.'
To date, seven countries have ratified the Charter, including Myanmar which did so recently and is set to announce it at the AMM.
Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines have yet to ratify the document that will establish the grouping as a legal body and is aimed at building a community.
Mr Yeo expects that Indonesia and Thailand would ratify the Charter with little difficulty.
But he believes the Philippines remains 'a small question mark' because of the position taken earlier by Philippine legislators that ratification would be contingent on Myanmar's good behaviour.
However, he pointed out, Philippine Foreign Minister Roberto Romulo has said he is hopeful his country would ratify the Charter before the December summit.
He noted that Asean members were going ahead with taking concrete steps in anticipation of ratification. These included appointing permanent representatives to the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta, a provision of the Charter.
In the unlikely event that the Charter is not fully ratified by December, Asean leaders can agree to bring specific aspects into force, he said.
At this AMM, besides discussing the Charter, the foreign ministers will also talk about the things that must be done to bring the Charter into force.
'We've got to strengthen the Secretariat because, right now, it's under-resourced for the new functions which we expect it to undertake,' he said.
The AMM will also discuss two key components of the new Charter - the human rights council and a mechanism for dispute settlement. Indeed, two high-level groups will be meeting for the first time at the AMM on these two issues.
On human rights, Mr Yeo noted that there were many expectations but no consensus yet as to what the body would do. He added that Asean wanted to build an agreed foundation of common human rights that would serve its regional construction and the interest of its peoples.
'Whether or not the human rights body we establish will have teeth I don't know. But it will certainly have a tongue, and I hope it will have a sharp tongue,' he said.
He also noted that the work of the legal experts to draw up a dispute settlement mechanism was a very important one that should lead to the evolution of an Asean legal jurisprudence over time. 'We need that as the foundation of our economy,' he pointed out.
The ministers will also discuss two of the blueprints for Asean integration, the security community and social-cultural community plans.
As to whether Asean would expand to include Timor Leste, which has expressed interest in joining the grouping, he said 'we've got enough problems of our own and we should not be taking on new obligations lightly'.
But he said: 'If you look at the Asean agenda, we are persistent. We are making progress year by year.'
suinoi@sph.com.sg
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