SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Civil Society Edges Deeper Into Regional Summit
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
CHA-AM, Thailand, Feb 27 (IPS) – In a nod towards greater engagement with people’s organisations, a summit of South-east Asian leaders in this resort town will slightly extend its customary face-to-face with civil society representatives.
The 30 minutes that civil society leaders from eight countries in the region will have with the 10 presidents and prime ministers on Saturday is, symbolically at least, an advance from past summits, where only 15 minutes were provided for such engagements.
This widening window is in keeping with the promise of a more ‘’people centred’’ Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN), the 10-member bloc founded in 1967 to stall the spread of communism. In December, a new ASEAN charter came into force, making the regional alliance a rules-based entity and one that could hold governments to be more accountable.
The pledge to make it an inclusive body is part of the charter. And the theme of the summit held in this town south of Bangkok is ‘’ASEAN Charter for ASEAN Peoples.’’
The 10 members of ASEAN span the political spectrum, where space for a politically active and critical civil society and grassroots organisations is often not embraced by all. They range from Brunei, an absolute monarchy, Burma (or Myanmar), under the grip of an oppressive military dictatorship, Laos and Vietnam, both one-party states headed by their respective communist parties, and Singapore, a one-party state that crushes dissent and tolerates little opposition.
The only countries in the region where shades of democracy are visible are Indonesia and the Philippines, less so in Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, albeit with increasing space for political and civil liberties.
The 10 civil society representatives who will meet the leaders at the 14th ASEAN summit are from Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and hosts Thailand.
‘’Issues running into three or four pages addressing concerns of civil society are up for discussion,’’ says Thitinan Pongsuthirak, a political scientist at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University who will chair the dialogue between the leaders and the civil society organisations (CSOs). ‘’The treatment of the Rohingyas by Burma-Myanmar, freeing the political prisoners there, the economic crisis, and the food crisis are some of the issues.’’ continue
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