Activists say Democracy Key to Asean Success by Amy Kazmin in Bali The Financial Times 1:23am 7th Oct, 2003   October 6 2003    Rights activists and academics from across South-east Asia warned on Monday that the attempt by the Association of South-east Asian Nations to deepen economic integration and attract investment was unlikely to succeed unless accompanied by greater political openness and a strong commitment to the rule of law.    "Good governance, inclusiveness, and democracy are some of the prerequisites needed ... if Asean people and countries are to succeed in their endeavours," said Landry H. Subianto, an academic at Indonesia's Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Asean should not stand on a weak foundation."    Asean leaders will sign a deal this week to forge an economic community where goods, services, investment and skilled workers can move freely through the region by 2020. To accompany the economic agenda, leaders plan to step up security co-operation and cultural interaction.    But rights groups holding an alternative summit nearby say the fresh initiatives will be at risk if the region's governments - which include a military dictatorship, authoritarian regimes and democracies of varying degree - fail to embrace basic principles of human rights.    "Asean talks about wanting to be an economic community similar to the European community," Gandhi Ambalam, of the Open Singapore Center, said. "Within the Asean community of nations, the human rights record needs immediate addressing. They talk about economic integration, economic community and security ... What about political pluralism?"    Asean officials are concerned that investors relocating from the region's higher-cost production areas, including Singapore and Malaysia, are drifting outside the region rather than moving to less developed member countries like Burma, Cambodia and Laos.    Ong Keng Yong, Asean's secretary-general, appealed to foreign companies this week to invest in Cambodia and Laos, which are eligible for preferential tariffs owing to their status as least developed countries, and also in Burma, currently subject to US sanctions including an import ban. "[Burma] may be a political hot potato, but its still a potato," he told business people.    But Debbie Stothard, an activist with the Alternative Asean Network on Burma, says the unpredictable environment created by the junta, and other regimes with little public accountability, will remain a hindrance to capital inflows.    "How can you conduct business safely and sustainably when there is no confidence in the legal institutions and the laws of that country?" Ms Stothard said.    The rights activists called for Asean to cast aside its long-held principle of "non-interference" in the internal affairs of others, a doctrine that has kept the region from playing a constructive role in resolving problems that have repercussions for the image and security of south-east Asia, such as the political situation in Burma.    "If Asean is unable to fix its own regional problems, then what is the point of having it," said Ms Stothard.    6 October, 2003,    Burma in for rough ride at summit by Larry Jagan, BBC Burma analyst (BBC World News).    Burma's leaders are in for a torrid time at this year's Asean summit in Bali. The leaders of Burma's Asian neighbours will almost certainly increase the pressure on Rangoon to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention for more than four months.    "We will be demanding the immediate release of the country's opposition leader," Cambodia's prime minister said before he left Phnom Penh for the summit. The failure of the United Nations envoy Razali Ismail to secure any concessions during his mission to Rangoon last week means that Asean will have to take the initiative.    "Asean's credibility, Asean's image and Asean's international standing could be affected if we are not seen to be looking at the situation in Myanmar (Burma)," said the organisation's Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong on the eve of the summit.    The Asian leaders will try to impress upon the Burmese leaders that there must be significant political change before 2006, when Burma is due take over the presidency of the organisation.    "The rest of Asean would find it totally unacceptable to have an authoritarian military regime acting as the chairman of the group," said a senior Malaysian diplomat.    Burma's new prime minister General Khin Nyunt is expected to brief all the other leaders at the summit to outline the details of his plans to introduce democracy to the country. His very first meeting will be with the out-going Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohammad.    He is likely to be given a very hard time by the Malaysian leader, according to sources in Kuala Lumpur, because of Burma's failure to introduce even a small measure of economic reform. The Japanese prime minister has also declared his intentions to demand that the regime free Aung San Suu Kyi immediately and unconditionally.    The key priority for Asean countries is to find ways to help Khin Nyunt break Burma's prolonged political deadlock. "For Aung San Suu Kyi, all issues remain negotiable, provided the regime starts real political talks with her," said a western diplomat.    The main problem is that Burma's top generals are either not prepared - or just not willing - to negotiate with the opposition leader. "It seems the top still haven't agreed on what to do," said a western diplomat.    The crucial issue for the region and the international community as a whole is whether Burma's generals - especially Khin Nyunt and Than Shwe - are prepared to give Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party a central role in the national reconciliation process. If they are excluded, then the roadmap will lack any credibility.    Khin Nyunt told Mr Razali during his Rangoon visit that he needed more time to be able to prepare for political change. But time is running out for the generals to prove they are sincere about political and economic change.    Even the countries of Southeast Asia will not accept promises without reform indefinitely. "We do not want the national reconciliation process to be derailed, but we have also stated that there cannot be an open-ended situation - not knowing when Aung San Suu Kyi will be totally released," said Malaysia's foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar.    Asean may be prepared to be patient with Rangoon a little longer. But there are strong signs in several of the region's capitals that if there is no major change in Burma within the next year, expelling it from the organisation could become a real option. Visit the related web page
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