Thai pressure groups misuse Asean charter rewrite issue

Even though the political situation seems to have calmed down over recent weeks, anti-government demonstrations are still a regular feature in Thailand. The proposed Asean summit venues were often blocked, under the threat of blockade or were simply not safe enough for conferences with the political situation in turmoil.

Now the opposition Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship is putting new pressure on the government. One of the DAAD leaders, Weng Tojirakan, said at the beginning of January that there was now an urgent need to rewrite the Asean Charter because it was "a direct product of the dictatorial regime". Weng stated that the Charter was undemocratic because it was written by those appointed by the coup leaders who seized power from Thaksin Shinawatra in September 2006.

So far, the new Thai government is on track regarding the Asean Summit next month. On January 27 a joint session of the two houses of Parliament endorsed the twenty draft agreements and contracts to be signed at the summit. But the discussion and protests are far from over.

Even though one could argue that the politicians who were in power after the coup were not democratically elected, and therefore did not have the legitimate authority to negotiate on behalf of Thailand, that argument ignores what a long and difficult process it is to write a complex and important agreement like the Asean Charter.

There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding by the DAAD about the idea and concept of a regional charter and the mechanisms of how to reach such an agreement.

The Asean Charter is the fundamental basis of the regional organisation. What a constitution is for a single Asian member, the Charter is for Asean. All Asean countries took part in the difficult process of drafting and developing the Charter over the years. This process is of extreme importance, as the participation and contribution of every member country assured support for this regional agreement. Thai politicians participated and contributed their visions in the consultation processes.

The process of developing the Asean charter is a long-term project, involving all stakeholders in countless meetings and conferences. Different views have to be balanced out; cultural and religious differences have to be taken into account. Specialised sub-units of the negotiation teams negotiated and worked out results in their respective fields.

The Charter has to formulate the direction the Asean community wants to go in the future, and at the same time allow the individual member states to develop their national objectives independently.

The allegation that, from the Thai perspective, the Charter was written by people who seized power after the coup, would give Thailand too much credit. One might not agree with all parts of the Charter, but the DAAD is not able to pin down which aspects - of 55 single articles describing a broad range of regional topics and issues - it does not support or wants to have re-written.

Several aspects of the Charter are of fundamental importance for all Asean member states and will provide the backbone for economic growth and stability in the region. Increased regional cooperation on environmental issues, economic cooperation and appreciation of the fundamental aspects of democracy are all laid down in the Charter. These fundamental rules are not written to favour particular political groups. They are designed to strengthen democracy and transparency in each Asean country.

Still, protests in the context of Asean are frequent in Thailand. The Asean Summit will be seen as a good opportunity for political groups to show their strength. The People's Alliance for Democracy forced the government of former premier Somchai Wongsawat to shift the summit from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and then succeeded in postponing the regional forum - originally scheduled for mid-December - when it seized Bangkok's airports at the end of November last year.

The DAAD now goes one step further in its confrontation, demanding that Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva dismisses Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya ahead of the Asean Summit and warning him that there will be mass protests if its demands are not met. The DAAD claims that the foreign minister was a supporter of the PAD during the airport siege. This might be true, but in the context of the Asean Charter it is less of a concern than destabilising the country by using the Asean context.

This attempt to put the government under pressure is partly the result of the PAD demonstrations last year. The PAD opened the door for everybody just powerful enough to mobilise people and put pressure on the government. This development is dangerous, as the result is a potential switch to non-democratic power struggles outside Parliament.

The interests of single political groups are not the well-being of the country as a whole. Yet these groups openly warn politicians about their decisions and use pressure to get their demands through. The DAAD is trying to imitate the success of the PAD and it will most likely fail. Most Thais want political stability after the turmoil and deadlock of recent months.

The idea of rewriting the Asean Charter is not only an illusion, it is manipulation, for populist reasons, of this important regional agreement. Calls for a rewrite will mislead the people of Thailand about the purpose and content of the Charter, which is an elementary requirement for stable regional economic and political development.

Alexander Mohr is partner for international relations at the European government relations firm of Alber & Geiger in Brussels, and was lecturer in international relations at the Institut d'etudes Politiques de Paris (SciencesPo) in Paris.