Relief work in Myanmar and North Korea's accession to the ASEAN peace treaty are expected to be the main topics addressed at the 41st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Singapore, a Foreign Ministry official said.

I Gede Ngurah Swajaya, ASEAN director of political and security affairs, said last week the July 17-23 meeting would focus heavily on the report by the group overseeing the relief process in Myanmar after the Cyclone Nargis disaster in which more than 100,000 people died.

The group, comprised of representatives from Myanmar, ASEAN and the United Nations, was created as a political compromise in the wake of international condemnation over the military junta's refusal to admit foreign aid workers.

"We will be hearing their report of the complete damage assessment. They will then seek guidance from the foreign ministers on the next steps for rehabilitation and reconstruction," he said.

ASEAN was embarrassed it did not manage to convince its youngest and most obstinate member to open up to foreign aid workers until more than two weeks after the cyclone struck.

The junta was also criticized for going ahead with its referendum days after the disaster and for allegedly forcing voters to agree to a draft Constitution that will pave the way for elections in 2010.

The Constitution is also said to automatically allocate a proportion of seats in parliament to the military and to permanently bar Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from running for office because she married a foreign national.

Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, won the 1990 elections but was denied office by the military regime.

Western donors have pledged millions of dollars in relief aid, but have sought more transparency from the reclusive government.

The meeting will also address the ASEAN Charter ratification process. ASEAN leaders signed the charter, which is the first binding treaty for the organization, in December last year.

Complete ratification is set for December this year. Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Myanmar have yet to ratify the treaty.

North Korea's plan to sign up to the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, said Ngurah, was also to be a key point of discussion in the meeting because the plan reflected Pyongyang's willingness to resolve its nuclear-centered dispute amicably.

"They have expressed their intention to be included in a regional scheme that abides by a principle of living and resolving conflicts peacefully," Ngurah said.

The treaty automatically covers ASEAN's 10 member countries and has been signed by some of the major powers involved in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which will hold its 15th annual meeting on July 24.

Ngurah said that meeting would focus on a comprehensive review of the security forum's work over the past 15 years and on ways for it to play a more practical role, particularly in disaster management.

The ARF is still in the confidence-building phase, he added, and members would examine whether it was ready to enter the preventive diplomacy phase.

Popular

Emirates Group books record $5.1 bn annual profit

Is Indonesia really ready to embrace dual citizenship?

Citizenship duel