Abhisit wants an early summit

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that if he became prime minister he would move up the 14th Asean summit from March to February to restore confidence in Thailand.

He told The Nation that his government would accord top priority to Asean and the role of Thailand as its chair.

Thais are ready for the summit," he said, adding that he would ensure that all 35 Asean documents were vetted by Parliament in time for the summit, which would take place in early February instead of in March as currently planned.

"All preparations are in place, including documents," he said, adding that early February would be the best time though some Asean members were anxious and wanted to have the in January.

The prime-ministerial front runner also expressed deep appreciation to Asean members for their support and understanding of the political situation in Thailand. "I am grateful to Asean for its understanding and concern," he said.

Abhisit, whose party is expected to form a new coalition government next week, said Asean was pivotal to all members because of its huge market and economic potential and its prospect of integration into one community. "The Asean Charter is an important step for Asean in strengthening the organisation and providing clear direction," he said.

Abhisit pointed out that the new government would need to compensate for the summit's postponement by forging broader and more concrete measures to cope with ongoing global financial challenges when the Asean leaders met, along with their dialogue partners.

On the Asean Global Dialogue Initiative, the opposition party leader emphasised that such a high-power dialogue among key international financial institutions would be beneficial for Asean in exchanging views and learning from each other on measures to cope with financial crisis.

In a press conference, Asean Affairs Department Director-General Vitavas Srivihok said envoys of several Asean countries had expressed concern over Thailand's hosting of the Asean summit and would like it to be held sooner than March.

Vitavas said the Thai delegation would reaffirm its readiness during a special meeting of Asean foreign ministers in Jakarta on Monday. Thailand insisted on holding the Asean chairmanship and hosting the 14th summit in the country sooner than March if there was no impediment to the formation of a new government.

"If the formation of the new government is smooth, we could host the summit in the first week of February," he said.

Asean has called a special session at the Jakarta Asean headquarters to discuss the summit. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will chair it.

Cambodia and Singapore are suggesting the summit should be held sooner, somewhere outside Thailand, if the Kingdom was unable to handle it.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen wants Thailand to relinquish the Asean chairmanship since delay will affect many cooperative projects.

Vitavas sees no reason to give up the chairmanship since the country retains the capacity to handle the group as long as it has a fully mandated government soon. In fact, he said, the delay of the summit does not jeopardise the launch of the Asean Community since it has been up and running automatically since the charter came into force on Monday.