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ASEAN marks 55th year while RI gears up for chairmanship
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(From left) Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, Brunei's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Erywan Yusof, Laos' Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith and ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi shake hands as they pose for a family picture during the opening ceremony for the 55th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers Meeting in Phnom Penh, on August 3, 2022.
(AFP/Than Chinn Sothy)
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SEAN celebrated its 55th anniversary on Monday in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, amid “a time of great upheaval” as Indonesia braces itself for its upcoming role as the group’s chairman next year. The 10-nation bloc, established in 1967 in Bangkok, has recently had its share of troubles with the ongoing superpower rivalry and the crisis in Myanmar.
Just last week at its Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM), the group had to resort to an uncharacteristic strategy of calibrating warnings to Naypyidaw that it was open to making moves without Myanmar’s vote if no progress vis-a-vis the Five-Point Consensus peace initiative has been made by November. Heated internal debates among the nations concerning the idea of suspending the military-led country from future conferences were also reported to have taken place.
In his opening remarks at the commencement of the AMM, Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia, which chairs ASEAN this year, noted that the “association has never before been confronted at the same time with so many perils”.
Indonesia, the bloc’s largest country and the next chair on the list, now gears up to play its role as a leader that will be faced with plenty of challenges.
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said, in her speech for ASEAN Day on Monday, that while ASEAN “has stood the test of time, [it] does not mean that it can [afford to be] complacent”.
“Looking back, I can confidently say that ASEAN is the best thing that [has] happened to our region. In fact, I could not imagine this region without ASEAN,” she said.
“At the same time, many regional flashpoints show signs of escalation and have the potential to turn into an open conflict. Internally, ASEAN is also challenged to find a solution as a family to address the crisis in Myanmar.”
