Asean sets the date, but it wasn't easy

Bangkok Post
Wednesday December 17, 2008

THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL

The launching of the Asean charter and the setting of a new date for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, from Feb 24 to 26, were agreed on only after extensive negotiations.

There was no debate on where the summit should be held, however.

Whether it is in Bangkok or Chiang Mai is irrelevant, as both cities are in Thailand.

The problems concerned the way to organise the charter launch and the date for the summit.

Cambodia and Singapore insisted the Asean Charter, which was supposed to be launched at the 2008 summit in Thailand this week, should not be postponed. So it was proposed the landmark charter be launched at the Asean Secretariat, which is in Jakarta.

It made perfect sense and fitted the notion of the secretariat being an icon for all member countries. Similarly, the charter is meant to unify all members under a common brand.

The idea was well received by the member countries. But before it got to that point, there were many things that needed to be sorted out.

After close consultation with Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan, Thailand agreed to contribute 1.5 million baht to spruce up the secretariat office and grounds to welcome the Asean foreign ministers.

This included buying a new meeting table to replace the existing one.

It was the first time the secretariat office had hosted this kind of meeting in its 41 years of operation.

While the Thai and Asean staff were busy preparing the venue for the launch, the Thai host encountered another problem. It had no foreign minister to lead the delegation at the event.

Sompong Amornvivat lost his job on Dec 2 as a result of the Constitution Court's verdict, which disqualified the People Power party and two other coalition parties for election fraud.

A few days before the meeting, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong sent a letter to his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirajuda proposing it be cancelled because, in his view, Thailand was not ready.

A source quoted Mr Wirajuda as saying "ignore it".

Back in Thailand, many ministers who were not affected by the court ruling were nominated to lead the delegation. But most of them declined. So the Foreign Ministry nominated its special adviser, Manaspas Xuto, for the job.

But Cambodia again opposed the idea, saying only a minister could attend the meeting.

Acting Prime Minister Chavarat Charnvirakul had to lobby hard on Saturday to get a minister to fly to Jakarta.

The final decision came at the last minute, not long before the delegation departed, with Information and Communications Technology Minister Mun Patanotai going on the trip.

Mr Mun said he was given a briefing only a few hours before arriving in Jakarta.

But as one problem was resolved, another emerged.

Indonesian officials wanted to replace the video presentation of Asean prepared by Thailand with choral performances by the University of Padjadjaran on the new Asean anthem, the "Asean Way", during the opening ceremony.

Only after a long negotiation was a compromise reached - Thailand would go ahead with its presentation, and the Indonesian performances would follow at the end.

When the meeting came to the important discussion about choosing a new date for the summit, one proposal was for January.

But many countries' schedules are blocked with the Chinese New Year holiday, budget debates, and bilateral visits. So the consensus came down to Feb 24 to 26.