ASEAN Charter gets the nod in Thailand

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 09/19/2008 11:52 AM | World

Thailand's parliament has formally ratified the ASEAN Charter, and is now awaiting the King's approval before submitting it to the regional bloc, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said Wednesday.

In a press release, Surin said Thailand could soon complete its ratification of the charter.

"I am sure this development will give impetus and encouragement to Indonesia and the Philippines, which are still in the process of ratifying the ASEAN Charter," he said.

"The vision of a united ASEAN committed to building the ASEAN Community by 2015 is getting clearer by the day."

He also expressed optimism that by the time of the ASEAN Summit in mid-December 2008 in Bangkok, all regional leaders would be able to celebrate either the entry into force of the ASEAN Charter, or at least the full ratification of the charter.

Seven of the 10 ASEAN member states have already deposited their instruments of ratification with the secretary-general, leaving Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia yet to do so.

A special committee of Indonesia's House of Representatives on Wednesday agreed to finish their deliberation of the charter by October 8, followed by a consultative session and plenary forum to decide the future of the document.

The House is scheduled to present the Foreign Ministry with further inquiries over the Charter on October 6.

Ngurah Swajaya, the ministry's ASEAN political affairs director, said the ministry was expected to reply to the inquiries from the deliberation team on October 6 or 7.

"We will respond to their inquiries on either October 6 or 7, and the deliberation is expected finish on October 8. This schedule is made based on the submission from the legislators themselves."

In an earlier hearing with the foreign minister, several lawmakers questioned the urgency to ratify the charter in time, with several provisions in it still being debated.