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Article Excerpt
In his report from a civil society conference held in Singapore on 27-28 October 2007, Simon Tay, Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA), said: "A community is much more than an inter-governmental organization ... it tries to open doors for people groups. So here we are, at the door, and here is our report." (2) A month later, on 20 November 2007, the ASEAN Charter was signed at the 13th ASEAN Heads of State Summit. However, a coalition of a hundred "people groups", collectively known as the Solidarity for Asian Peoples' Advocacy (SAPA), described the Charter as a "disappointment ... a document that falls short of what is needed to establish a 'people-centred' and 'people-empowered' ASEAN". (3) Is the door open, ajar, or has the ASEAN Charter slammed it shut in the face of civil society organizations (CSOs)?
In this article, I will trace the involvement of CSOs in ASEAN's community building project. The role of CSOs, both in terms of what they can do and the degree of their involvement in ASEAN decisionmaking, is an important element in that project, and specifically, ASEAN's professed desire to be "people-oriented". (4) The article begins by examining what a people-oriented ASEAN means and how it could represent a significant change for the Association. The article goes on to examine which ASEAN members are interested in engaging CSOs before explaining why and how CSOs have responded. The article concludes with an analysis of why SAPA views the Charter as a disappointment.
A People-Oriented ASEAN
The notion that ASEAN should be oriented towards the people of the member states could signify a dramatic reorientation of the Association's raison d'etre. Although in its founding declaration, the 1967 Bangkok Declaration, the ASEAN members committed themselves to "raising of the living standards of their peoples" and to "secure for their peoples ... the blessings of peace, freedom and prosperity", a cursory examination of ASEAN's history reveals the centrality of state security and specifically the safeguarding of the state elite. (5) The core principle of non-interference was designed to assist the member states engage in the often brutal business of nation building, safe in the knowledge that their neighbours would refrain from interfering. According to Kuhonta, this support created an illiberal ASEAN community and given the level of violence committed against their own people by the dictators of the past (Soeharto, Fidel Marcos) and present (Than Shwe) such a description seems apt. (6) The notion that ASEAN was established in 1967 to secure peace and freedom for its members' people will no doubt be quite a surprise for those that endured, and for some who continue to endure, oppressive rule. ASEAN has been first and foremost an Association for the elite.
What then does ASEAN mean when it refers, as it does in its Charter, to a people-oriented ASEAN? Although ASEAN is first and foremost an Association for the elite, this does not mean that it has not engaged regional non-state actors. ASEAN has encouraged business involvement via the ASEAN Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASEAN-CCI) established in 1972, a vehicle through which businesses can have an input on regional economic issues. ASEANCCI, for example, played an important role in the creation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). Since the 1980s, ASEAN has engaged with academics from the ASEAN Institutes for Strategic and International Studies (ASEAN-ISIS). This is known as Track-II dialogue and since 1991, ASEAN-ISIS has met the members of the ASEAN Senior Official Meeting prior to the annual ASEAN Ministerial Meeting. The human rights body outlined in the Charter has its origins in the ASEAN-ISIS Colloquium on Human Rights. ASEAN began granting accreditation to civil society organizations as far back as 1979, although formal guidelines for affiliation were not adopted until 1986 and these were revised in 2006. Under the new guidelines, fifty-five CSOs now have ASEAN accreditation. (7) It would certainly appear as though the people, in the form of these non-state actors, have had avenues for engaging with ASEAN. However, it is the nature of these engagements which provide an indication as to what ASEAN might mean by people-oriented.
The 2006 guidelines for CSO accreditation provide a valuable insight. CSO affiliation requires CSOs granted accreditation to have objectives that enhance, strengthen and realize the aims and objectives of ASEAN. They are required, in writing, to abide by the policies, guidelines, directives, and other decisions of ASEAN, and CSOs that are deemed by the ASEAN Standing Committee to have acted in a contrary manner can have their accreditation terminated. They are required to invite officials of ASEAN member countries to attend their meetings and participate in their activities and they should submit, on an annual basis, a written summary of their activities to the ASEAN Standing Committee. (8) The nature of this engagement is thus one determined and directed by the state elite. It is a top-down process where ASEAN establishes the objectives that the CSOs pursue, and it is perhaps not surprising that the types of CSOs that are granted accreditation represent professional and industry associations such as ASEAN Law Association, ASEAN Orthopaedic Association and the ASEAN Federation of Accountants. (9) This type of relationship has also bedevilled the interaction academics have had with the state elite. It has lead to accusations of academics becoming bureaucratized and co-opted by the state elite, and as noted below, has lead some CSOs to accuse ASEAN-ISIS of restricting rather than opening channels for dialogue with ASEAN. (10)
If this is the type of engagement that ASEAN has in mind when it proclaims a people-oriented future for the Association, then this reveals it will be one that remains determined, directed and controlled by the state elite. There were reasons to be more optimistic that ASEAN was prepared to mean much more about its modus operandi when it adopted the notion of being people-oriented. In 1997, at the height of the Asian financial crisis, the Association declared a vision of what it hoped Southeast Asia could become. This was its Vision 2020 declaration which subsequently laid the foundations for ASEAN to embark upon its community building project and adopt an ASEAN Charter. In its Vision 2020 declaration, the Association pledged to create "caring societies" in which "all people enjoy equitable access to opportunities for total human development regardless of gender, race, religion, language, or social and cultural background". (11) Significantly it envisions "our nations being governed with the consent and greater participation of the people, with its focus on the welfare and dignity of the human person and the good...
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