Friday 29 Mar 2024
By
main news image

THE Asean Community will be realised this year. Most discussions on the community are based on the three pillars — political security, economic and socio-cultural.

However, I would like to look at it from a different perspective — that there are currently at least three tracks working on the objective of realising an Asean region that is truly people-centred. The Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) is directly or indirectly involved in all of the three tracks.   

The first track is about the governments of Asean trying to make a transition. Asean has achieved remarkable success in realising its aim at the point of its inception, which is peace and security, but is still struggling in being relevant in other areas, with the exception of trade (but this is often due to external factors rather than by its own design).

As an organisation, Asean is like a body that is divided into two parts: the founding members (mostly quite advanced) and the new members (mostly less advanced). The two parts are not separate entities, but sometimes, they look like they are not really on the same page.

Asean has not been able to migrate from its traditional consensus decision-making and non-interference stance, which is a problem to the extent that no real decision is made on some issues, to a more practical decision-making principle.

On the rights front, Asean is either anti-human rights or is taking its own sweet time in implementing human rights. Hence, it cannot pride itself as an advocate of human rights. It is still an elitist organisation. But Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, as Asean chairman this year, has committed to making the regional grouping more people-centred.

The second track is about the strengthening of people’s participation. Thanks mainly to the good works of the civil society organisations (CSOs), more people are now aware of Asean and about having a voice in the community.

When the CSOs network, they are a very powerful force. The collective wisdom of the CSOs are usually more advanced than that of governments.    

Since the early days of Asean, the CSOs have always wanted to engage the governments of Asean member states, more than the governments wanting to engage with them. In 2005, when Malaysia was chairman, a more systematic CSO meeting with a formal engagement called the “Interface” was organised for the first time in Kuala Lumpur. This was the inception of what is today known as the Asean Civil Society Conference/Asean People’s Forum (ACSC/APF).

This year, the ACSF/APF will be held from April 21 to 24, while the Asean Summit will be held on April 26 and 27. The Interface is scheduled for April 27.

But, the CSOs regret that the people’s recommendations that have been submitted to member states since 2005 have not been implemented or adopted in any meaningful way.

Hence, for 2015, which is the 10th anniversary of the ACSC/APF, the organising committee has decided to use a new approach. Firstly, the CSO statement was prepared and approved earlier — at the Third ACSC/AYF Regional Consultation held on Jan 23 and 24 in Malaysia.

Secondly, instead of having too many recommendations, this time, the CSO statement focuses on four major priorities: ensure development justice; protect democratic processes, governance, and fundamental rights and freedoms; commit to peace and security; and end discrimination and inequality.

Thirdly, the CSO statement was submitted to Asean member states’ governments or leaders in March. With the new approach, it is hoped that Asean will eventually come up with a better CSO-government working framework that is not limited to the Interface only.    

The third track is about a network of people advocating concrete programmes for the substantial inclusiveness of the people, especially the grassroots, as part of the Asean Community.

In this context, GMM, Asian Solidarity Economy Council (ASEC) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) are organising a roundtable discussion on Fostering Asean  community-based enterprise in Kuala Lumpur on April 25.

The roundtable will call on the region’s leaders to recognise that grassroots and local community initiatives are generating community-based enterprises that contribute to wealth creation, enhance the quality of community life and empower people’s participation in local development, environmental conservation and responsible use of local resources in a sustainable way.

In this context, an Asean network of community-based enterprises will be launched to enhance people-to-people cooperation and foster the strengthening of supply chains of community-based enterprises that engage local socio-economic actors.

May the three tracks reach the same destination — realising the full potential of the Asean Community.


Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah is CEO, Global Movement of Moderates. He is active on Twitter: @saifuddinabd.

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on April 20 - 26, 2015.

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share