Vietnam to ratify Asean Charter this week: Surin

Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Laos have already ratified the charter. Vietnam's ratification will be handed to the Asean secretarygeneral during a meeting of Asean finance ministers in Danang on Thursday and Friday.

The full ratification would be completed by the time of the Asean summit in Thailand in December, Surin said.

Thailand, which will soon take over the rotating chairmanship of the group, will ratify the charter by June. The Thai instrument has passed Cabinet approval and is pending parliamentary endorsement.

Indonesia and the Philippines are expected to ratify around the same time as Thailand, as these countries required a longer endorsement procedure, Surin said.

The ten members of Asean signed the charter last year during a summit of leaders in Singapore, but it will not come into force without the full ratification of all members.

The charter will make the 41yearold organisation a legal entity rather than an ad hoc body as before. It will also enhance the role of the secretarygeneral and establish a human rights body for the first time ever to promote and protect rights in the region.

Juntaruled Burma, which has a poor record on human rights protection, has signalled that it will sign to ratify the charter not later than the coming Asean summit in Bangkok, Surin said.

Surin, who has been in office for three months, expressed his vision on the integration of the group at a luncheon speech to accept an honorary doctorate in law from Bristol University.

Political deadlock in Burma, particularly since the September crackdown on mass demonstrations which claimed at least 31 lives, remains a key problem for Asean.              

Without mentioning names, Surin said peace and national reconciliation within some member countries remained elusive. "It complicates interaction with our dialogue partners and other international bodies," he said.

"Conflict in our part of the world should be resolved through cooperation, in the same way as we helped to resolve the problem in Aceh without comprising the national integrity and sovereignty of Indonesia," he said, adding that this "shall be our model of approach."

Prior to taking the position of Asean chief, Surin was actively involved in solving the rebel conflict in Aceh until the territory agreed a peace deal with Jakarta and obtained a certain level of autonomy.

by Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation