The answer lies with the six-member eminent person selection committee set up on February 15 to search for and screen the right person to head the new Asean, which is scheduled to adopt its first charter by the end of this year.

The five-year term of Asean secretary-general Ong Keng Yong of Singapore will expire at the end of this year. The next chief will come from Thailand, following the rotation principle in place over the past 40 years. Asean foreign ministers will meet in July in Manila to approve Thailand's nominee.

In the past the position was considered a "routine job", according to an Asean insider. But in 1990 the three-year term was extended to five years and was awarded only to capable senior officials based on merit. Since the new system was adopted, there have been two secretary-generals, Dato Ajit Singh of Malaysia and Rodolfo Severino of the Philippines.

The committee - which will be chaired by Phaen Wannamethee, former permanent secretary of Asean from 1986-88 - comprises Tej Bunnag, adviser to the Privy Council, Gothom Ariya, chairman of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council, Prof Kusuma Sanitwong, chair of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University, Suthat Sethbunsrang, a partner at PriceWaterhouse Coopers and former Asean deputy secretary-general, Srirat Rastapana.

To ensure that the selection process is an open and transparent one, the Foreign Ministry has posted public notices urging interested persons to apply for the position. The open recruitment process reflects the Foreign Ministry's efforts to ensure that the best person is chosen for the job.

"I hope there would be qualified Thais to apply for this job because Thailand is a key country of Asean," said Suthat in an interview. "We must do everything to promote Asean's visions and aims."

Another member of the selection committee, who asked not to be named, said he was pleased that the Foreign Ministry has allowed outsiders to apply for the job. "He or she does not have to come from within the ministry," he said.

The committee will make its recommendation to the Foreign Ministry after it has screened and listed those who are qualified for further interview. By the end of May or early June, a shortlist of candidates will have been selected.

Termsak Chalermpalanuphub, a special assistant to the Asean secretary-general, told the Thai Foreign Ministry in a teleconference recently that the person who will lead Asean must be of high calibre, not an old-style bureaucrat. "He will head Asean with a charter, an Asean with a new identity," he said.

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont wants to make sure the selection process will be transparent and open, unlike the failed attempt last year  to have Surakiart Sathirathai become UN secretary-general. 

Kavi Chongkittavorn

The Nation