The ASEAN Charter: An Opportunity Missed or One that Cannot Be Missed?

Summary

Introduction

Since the formal adoption of the much-awaited ASEAN Charter in November 2007, opinions have been mixed regarding its impact on the institutional development of the forty-year-old association. From media reports, commentaries and editorials that emerged, the views expressed on the Charter have covered both ends of the spectrum, as reflected in comments from the most enthusiastic that called the Charter a “momentous event” in ASEAN's history, to the tad less salubrious and sceptical remarks on “long on talk, short on action” — and the starkly dismissive ones which referred to the event as a missed opportunity.

To be sure, the debates on the real impact of the Charter on ASEAN are far from over. More of the same contentions will continue in the months and years to come. Nonetheless, two years since the drafting of the Charter commenced, perhaps this is the best time to do a stocktake and examine how the process(es) of improving the institutional capacity of ASEAN has come along. This chapter therefore provides a short review of the events that led to the adoption of ASEAN Charter and offers some thoughts on a number of issues that have emerged as a consequence of this regional exercise.

The Starting Point

It is interesting to note that the idea of an ASEAN Charter was proposed by Malaysia in 2004, although the decision to draw up a Charter was formally adopted at the Eleventh ASEAN Summit in 2005. The Malaysian concept paper entitled, “Review of ASEAN Institutional Framework: Proposals for Change” had argued that in order to successfully transform ASEAN into an ASEAN Community, it would have to be prepared for profound changes including its institutional framework. One of the suggestions, therefore, was to review and revise ASEAN's current institutional framework, working methods, and rules — hence the need to draft a Charter.

The announcement of having a Charter at the Eleventh ASEAN Summit led to the appointment of a ten-person Eminent Persons Group (EPG) with a representative from each of the ASEAN states, which was given the mission of providing the ASEAN leaders “bold and visionary” inputs and recommendations for the Charter.