Wednesday, 22 October 2008

Malaysia Hopes Asean Summit Will Go On As Planned In December

By D.Arul Rajoo

BANGKOK, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- Malaysia hopes that the 14th Asean Summit will take place in Thailand as scheduled in December as speculation is rife that the embattled government will postpone it or move the venue to Chiang Mai from the capital.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said it was important that the summit and other related meetings with dialogues partners went according to plan from Dec 14 to 18, as any postponement would damage the 10-nation regional grouping's reputation.

"If postponed, it will become a big issue and the international community will say we can't even hold our summit," he said after meeting Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, and his counterpart and deputy prime minister, Sompong Amornvivat, to express Malaysia's concern over the the kingdom's border conflict with Cambodia.

Rais said both the Thai leaders gave an assurance that the summit would be held as planned and that preparations were going on, despite the five-month anti-government protests in the capital and the seizure of the Prime Minister's Office at the Government House.

Asked if the Thai leaders had hinted of any change in venue, Rais said there was none.

"They have not mentioned changing the venue from the capital to another place. But for us, the place is immaterial because the most important thing is the summit must go on with Thailand as the host," he added.

Asean member countries and diplomats had raised concern over the security aspect of the summit and Thailand's ability to host it following two violent incidents in the capital, the latest being on Oct 7 when two protesters were killed after day-long street battles with the police.

Somchai, who was appointed on Sept 17, has to operate from a makeshift office at the Don Muang Airport as the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) continued to occupy the Government House, seeking his resignation.

Somchai's People Power Party (PPP) is also facing dissolution for election fraud and the case is now pending at the Constitution Court, raising speculation that he would dissolve the parliament anytime.

Rais said that among the issues likely to be discussed at the summit were reorganisation of the Jakarta-based Asean secretariat to make it more productive and less bureaucratic, food and energy security, intra-Asean matters and the Asean Charter.

He said Malaysia would also push for the revamp of the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) to make it more interactive and to allow more meaningful participation from foreign participants.

-- BERNAMA

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