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SINGAPORE: ASEAN leaders meeting in Singapore have signed a landmark charter which will transform the grouping into a more effective and cohesive organisation with a rules-based governing framework.
The signing came at the end of summit talks among the bloc's 10 leaders on Tuesday.
The document sets out principles and rules for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the first time and creates a human rights body, but does not spell out what authority the body will have.
In a nutshell, the ASEAN Charter is all about giving the grouping a stronger and collective voice in the international body and ensuring plans endorsed by its leaders are effectively implemented according to timelines spelt out.
So the charter calls for the setting up of ASEAN Community Councils covering areas of political and security, economic and socio-cultural spheres.
They will ensure the implementation of decisions of the summit, coordinate the work of the different sectors and submit reports to the ministers and leaders.
The offices of the secretary general and the ASEAN secretariat have also been strengthened. There will now be four deputy secretaries general to assist the ASEAN chief.
In addition, each ASEAN member state will now appoint a permanent representative to the grouping with the rank of ambassador to be based in Jakarta.
But the provision in the ASEAN Charter, which has caught the attention of many, is the setting up an ASEAN human rights body.
While the charter does make mention of it, there are no further details as the terms of reference for the human rights body have been left to the ASEAN foreign ministers to work out.
As for resolving disputes, if a matter remains unresolved, then the charter states that it shall be referred to the ASEAN summit for its decision.
The charter also recommends that the summit be held twice annually so that leaders have more time to talk about ASEAN-related matters.
During the main summit each year, time is also set aside for discussions with the dialogue partners and the East Asia summit, leaving little time for an ASEAN family meeting.
ASEAN governments have one year to ratify the charter. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. - CNA/ir
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