ASEAN Approves Blueprint for First-Ever Charter

 CEBU, Philippines, Jan 13, 2007 (AFP) - ASEAN leaders Saturday formally approved a blueprint for a landmark charter aimed at reshaping their 40-year-old Southeast Asian grouping for the 21st century. "We are committed to establish an ASEAN Charter as a crowning achievement of 40 years of ASEAN to enable ASEAN to meet future challenges and opportunities," they said in a declaration at the end of their annual summit. The blueprint will form the basis of a mini-constitution that will be drafted by a high-level task force and presented to leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for approval at their next summit in November. It is intended to turn ASEAN into a European Union-style legal entity with binding rules on its members and counter criticism that the body has become little more than a diplomatic "talking shop". The document, while calling for ASEAN's time-honored but increasingly cumbersome decision-making by consensus to be retained, said the 10-nation bloc should also adopt "more effective" methods. "If consensus cannot be achieved, decisions may be taken through voting, subject to rules of procedure determined by the (planned) ASEAN Council," according to an executive summary released on Friday. Serious breaches 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." Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi admitted differences among members -- who range from military-ruled Myanmar to democracies like his country -- about the charter. But he insisted: "In order for an organisation to survive it has to be a rules-based organisation." Asked about the prospects of members adopting it at the next summit, Abdullah said: "Let's not try to guess what will happen." cgm/sm/mc/skj