ASEAN Must Lead ARF, Provide Effective Solutions To Issues - Dr Pitsuwan

By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 (Bernama) -- ASEAN must take the lead in the annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) by offering effective solutions to salient issues especially with members of the Six-Party Talks on the table, said the grouping’s former Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan. Pitsuwan, who was the secretary-general from 2008-2012, said that ASEAN not only needs to improvise its ways of handling strategic and security issues such as nuclear non-proliferation, weapon of mass destruction and extremism, but should also come up with innovative solutions to ensure the relevance of the ARF. “As the ‘owner’ of the (ARF) forum, ASEAN must not be hesitant or passive in taking on bigger challenges as it cannot continue providing platform for others to talk about big issues without being part of the conversation. “ASEAN may be the ‘owner’ of the platform and the props (the chairs and the tables), but they are not the ‘owner’ of the issues discussed,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of the ASEAN 50-50 Symposium, here Monday. Established in 1994, the ARF is made up of 27 members comprising the 10 ASEAN member states; members of the Six-Party Talks on dismantling North Korea nuclear programme namely China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the US, and North Korea; and dialogue partners. On a different note, the Professor at Thailand’s Thammasat University, said that reforms were needed in every ASEAN’s state secretariat to improve transparency and accountability that would take the grouping to greater heights, which will benefits all member states. Asked on ASEAN’s readiness and openness for reform, Pitsuwan said that although there were some reluctance on the matter, the people of ASEAN has the power to push for reforms that would benefit them in the long run. He also highlighted the need to reform the power of the ASEAN secretary-general that would give him or her a better space and position to take on initiatives as the group’s spokesperson, especially on issues that required immediate action such as natural disaster. As someone who has had experience in the matter, he said that the limitation of power frustrated the ASEAN dialogue partners as they needed to go through every agencies in all 10 different member states before getting anything across. The half-day ASEAN 50-50 Symposium, jointly organised by Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia and ASEAN-ISIS, is held in conjunction with ASEAN 50 years anniversary this year. -- BERNAMA