By Andi Abdusslam
Jakarta, March 1 (ANTARA) - Indonesia has expressed a strong desire to push ASEAN member countries for a dialog with the civil society in the region and to establish a human rights body in an effort to improve the image of the regional grouping.
"Indonesia highly expects that ASEAN would be ready to enter this field, to have a dialog with, listen to and share views with the civil society, something which concerns human rights, the environment and equitable development," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said after attending the 14th ASEAN summit in Hua Hin, Thailand on Sunday.
Indonesia also has a commitment to actively encourage the formation of an ASEAN human rights body although many parties have doubted the ASEAN commitment would be able to create a credible human rights body.
"Indonesia has been very serious since the beginning to encourage the formation of this ASEAN human rights body. Indonesia has done everything to set an example of what we are pursuing not only welfare but also respect for the law, the promotion of human rights, and freedom including freedom of the press," the president said.
Cambodia and Myanmar during the ASEAN summit objected to the election procedures of Civil Society representatives who were to have a dialog with ASEAN leaders.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said he could understand the objection of the Cambodian and Myanmarese governments on the election procedures of Civil Society representatives.
"It is true that Cambodia tendered their objection to the procedure on the appointment of representatives of the Civil Society of a certain country. It's quite logic," he said.
The minister said the Cambodian government had complained about it because the country was not involved in appointing representatives of the civil society group who will have a dialogu with the ASEAN heads of state/government.
According to Yudhoyono, ASEAN should be ready based on its charter to have a dialog with, listen to and share views with the civil society in an effort to abolish its elitist image.
"We have to listen to them and that is the true spirit of the ASEAN charter where ASEAN should show that it is no longer elitist but cares for not only matters of government but also civil matters in all ASEAN nations," he said.
He said that dialogs and communications with the civil society were part of the process for ASEAN in implementing its charter.
"I don't want to comment too far about the technical, procedural and mechanism of the election of the civil society representatives. Thailand, in its capacity as host and as the ASEAN secretary general, has of course made preparations for it," Yudhoyono added.
The objection of Cambodia and Myanmar to the selection mechanism of civil society representatives in the 14th ASEAN summit should serve as a lesson for the next ASEAN summit.
Indonesia hopes that the process would proceed smoothly in the future.
Besides pushing ASEAN to have a dialog with civil society groups, Indonesia also hopes that the regional grouping -- which comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- would soon form a human rights body.
Indonesia would be very active to get the ASEAN human rights body formed not merely to promote the ASEAN image but also to create a balance and harmony between law enforcement, freedom and peace.
"But of course we must also keep in mind that the basic freedom of every human being must be respected and highly upheld and must serve as part of the future development of the ASEAN community," the president said.
The president said ASEAN was serious about creating a credible human rights body although the condition of its member countries was different one from the other.
"Of course, Indonesia's condition is different from that of Myanmar and of the other ASEAN members. Therefore, a transition, adaptation and adjustment are needed. And the change which is often successful is a gradual but steady one.
On the economic crisis, Indonesia believed that there is no panacea that could be used to resolve instantly the impact of the current global financial crisis.
"With regard to regional cooperation to minimize the impact of the economic crisis, there is indeed no panacea or solution that could instantly resolve the problem. We all are aware of this. All advanced countries are affected. Their markets become gloomy. Our exports are therefore disrupted and a number of problems are now facing all nations, including ASEAN," the president said.
All countries, including Indonesia, have done the best they could. Indonesia has done its best to contribute to minimizing the impact of the financial crisis, both at regional level in ASEAN and at multilateral level in the G-20 forum.
"All countries wanted to do their best so that the global economic crisis would not worsen. Instead the recession would eventually stop so that the world economy would revive," President Yudhoyono said.
However, all of the efforts are not without limitations so that regional and multilateral cooperation are being established, the president said.
In order to help cope with the financial crisis, Indonesia has proposed three levels of cooperation schemes in the G-20 forum in the United States last year.
"The three levels of cooperation schemes are cooperation at multilateral level, cooperation at regional level and cooperation at national level," he said.
At regional level, Indonesia worked together with ASEAN to establish the Chiang Mai Initiative. ASEAN also agreed to increase intra-economic cooperation in trade and investment and agreed not to adopt protectionism.
Indonesia in its capacity as chairman of the Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT GT) and the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippine East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP EAGA), has specifically proposed that sub-regional cooperation should provide stimuli packages for infrastructure development ***1*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/A014) (T.A014/A/A014/A/A014) 02-03-2009 00:40:34
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