CEBU, Philippines, Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) - Southeast Asian leaders on Friday gave broad backing to a blueprint that will form the basis of a landmark charter that could lead to members being suspended from the bloc in extreme cases, the framers said. The blueprint will form the basis of a mini-constitution that will be drafted by a high-level task force to be appointed by the members this year and presented to ASEAN leaders in December. The project had been drawn up to help counter criticism that ASEAN, as it approaches its 40th anniversary, has become little more than an ineffective diplomatic "talking shop". The blueprint's formal adoption will be one of the highlights of the ASEAN summit that opens in the Philippine resort of Cebu on Saturday. "The report has been endorsed by the heads of government," said Musa Hitam, a former Malaysian deputy prime minister and a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) "eminent persons group" that drafted it. The document, while calling for ASEAN's time-honored but increasingly cumbersome decision-making by consultation and consensus to be retained, said "more effective decision-making" should be adopted by the 10-nation bloc. "If consensus cannot be achieved, decisions may be taken through voting, subject to rules of procedure determined by the ASEAN council," according to an executive summary of the document. Serious breaches of the provisions of the charter would empower leaders to impose sanctions including "the temporary suspension of the rights and privileges of membership. "And of course, in extreme cases, expulsion is not to be ruled out." Former Philippines president Fidel Ramos, a member of the eminent persons group, warned that other economic blocs elsewhere in the world were "moving ahead of ASEAN" in transforming into a rules-based organization. If Southeast Asia does not keep in step, "We are going to be left behind," he told the news conference. "The challenge is really that of political resolve and willingness," said former Singapore foreign minister S. Jayakumar. "What we have proposed in many areas is quite bold and innovative." cgm/mc/gn

ASEAN-SUMMIT-CHARTER - 01/12/2007 21:20 - AFP