By Prensa Latina,
Singapore : One of the key issues in the Charter of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is that it creates a dispute-settlement mechanism for apolitical agreements, an official source said here on Monday.
The director of the ASEAN Research Center, Rodolfo Severino, told reporters in Singapore that the association has a dispute-settlement mechanism for economic agreements, but it lacks a similar instrument in other sectors.
Therefore, dispute-settlement mechanisms must be included in all ASEAN agreements from now on, including socio-cultural and public security accords.
Severino said that all ten ANSEA foreign ministers analyzed the charter of that regional bloc, as the member countries disagree with its design, goals and responsibilities.
The Philippine official pointed out that a step forward was made after Myanmar approved the ASEAN Charter, so it is the seventh country to sign the document, which has not been ratified by Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.
According to a joint communiqué, the ASEAN foreign ministers “reaffirm the commitment of all members to ratifying the ASEAN Charter before the Bangkok Summit,” scheduled for December in Thailand.
The Association of South-East Asian Nations, which is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, has a total population of 580 million.
The ASEAN Charter, which will come into effect next year, is aimed at turning the regional organization into an association based on rules of basic principles.