One down, two to go

Well done: Anwar with Mohamad walking away from the stage after a media conference during the final day of the 46th Asean Summit at KLCC, where big decisions were reached to chart the regional bloc’s direction — AZMAN GHANI/The Star

HONOLULU 2011 – US President Barack Obama hosted many world leaders including from Russia, China and Japan for the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

A few of us, part of the Malaysian media delegation, were walking back to the hotel after a quick lunch. It was a short walk. Big mistake. Just as we were about to cross the road (the hotel was about 50m away), our group was stopped by the local police.

The Chinese leader and delegation were staying in the vicinity and the entourage was about to leave the hotel. For security reasons we had to wait for more than 30 minutes. No questions asked, we understood.

Pattaya 2009 – Asean Summit. Thailand was forced to cancel the summit as thousands of anti-government protesters forced their way into what was supposed to be a secured area.

Thai army personnel made no attempt to stop hundreds of red shirt protestors, loyal to Thaksin Shinawatra and seeking to oust Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, as they barged into the media centre, breaking the glass doors and toppling metal detectors, among other things.

There was a lot of confusion, shouting and for some of us at the media centre, the fear was real. One protestor checked my media tag, took a photo with me and mumbled sorry, obviously realising his group was at the wrong place.

The mayhem in Pattaya was brought by a security lax during the Asean Summit there in Thailand in 2009.

Fast forward to this week. As Malaysia hosted the 46th Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur, many Malaysians took to social media venting their annoyance when the government announced road closures before and during the summit. Typical Malaysians, we don’t like to be inconvenienced.

What many of us do not realise is that some leaders are from high risk countries – they are susceptible for attacks. Malaysia as the host does not want any of these leaders exposed to any potential threats. A security lax will show the world our incompetence and potentially a major embarrassment for the government, as what had happened in Thailand during the Asean summit.

It was a relief all around as the summit held at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre came to an end Tuesday evening. Many worked behind the scenes. We don’t know them, we don’t see them but they were the frontliners and backroom officials making sure everything was in place. They will be the first ones facing the brunt from the guests. It is not easy to please everyone. Complaints about access to certain venues, the missing flags or wrong sitting arrangements were plenty.

For the record, three main summits were held – the 46th Asean Summit, the second Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council and the inaugural Asean–GCC–China summit, attended by leaders of 17 countries with different interests and priorities. After each summit, a leaders’ joint statement would be issued, for failure to issue one shows the inability of the chair to persuade the rest to be onboard.

A joint statement carries more weightage in terms of the commitment of Asean members and all other external partners involved. It demonstrates the collective political will to undertake what the leaders have agreed and spur officials to ensure implementation of the cooperation agreed.

There were whispers during the summit when several countries tried to include paragraphs on highly complicated issues which not all of Asean members were ready to address to ensure balance in the outcome document. Good sense prevailed at the very last minute and the joint statement was issued.

Big decisions were made at this summit including the adoption of the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on “Asean 2045: Our Shared Future” which will serve to guide Asean’s direction over the next two decades.

When the decision for Timor Leste’s accession as the 11th member of Asean at the 47th Asean Summit in October was announced, it was met with tears of joy among Timorese officials at the summit venue. It has been a long 14 years.

Officials said one Asean member state was adamant that Timor Leste goes through the process before its accession as a full member but Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan swung into action to get the full consensus.

It was later brought to the leaders level where a final decision was made to admit Timor Leste.

“It is not a question of one member state against Timor Leste but rather asking it to fulfil all the conditions first. Without Asean consensus, it will further delay getting Timor Leste into the family.

“This year is all about inclusivity and yet one family member is not 100 percent in the Asean house. If we want to strictly follow the roadmap, it was near impossible for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to be a full member of Asean back then.

“We should give them leeway and give a timeframe to fulfill the requirements. Admit them first. We have to help them,” said one official

With four months to go, Timor Leste, which was granted observer status in 2022, will now have to comply with the requirements and more importantly going through their own legislation process.

The Asean chair statement stated that ministers and senior officials have been given the task to undertake the procedural steps for the admission of Timor Leste and expedite negotiations on the key agreements.

Another summit which received much attention and described as ambitious is the Asean-GCC-China Summit, held for the first time.

In a joint statement released on Wednesday, Asean, the GCC or Gulf Cooperation Council ( Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) and China, said they were committed to enhancing economic cooperation.

“We recognise that Asean, GCC and China encompass diverse and complementary economies which create enormous potential, broad prospects and new opportunities for greater cross-sectoral trade, investment, and economic collaboration,” the leaders said.

They also expressed grave concerns over the developments in West Asia and condemned all attacks against civilians and called for a durable ceasefire and to allow the unhindered delivery of fuel, food and medicine throughout Gaza.

It is interesting to note that China has long been a close partner for Asean while relations between the grouping and Arab countries have only recently started gaining momentum.

Will there be another trilateral summit when the Philippines takes over the Asean chair next year?

“We hope other Asean member states understand that Malaysia is doing this for the grouping. We have always put Asean’s interest as priority in initiating new initiatives for Asean. With the Asean-GCC-China Summit we are just opening up the opportunity, building a bridge beyond our region,” said a Malaysian official.

A lot of praises came from all around for the participation, substance and overall organisation of the summits. The second summit will be held in October.

However, for the exhausted officials, it is only a brief respite as the next big meeting is just weeks away – the annual Asean foreign ministerial where they will be joined by their dialogue partners from Australia, China, Canada, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom and the United States among others.

Now that, to me, is the highlight of the Asean chairmanship with issues like the South China Sea, a contentious one among claimant states and user states which includes powerful countries.

Given the action on the ground in recent months, there will be no doubt that some countries would want stronger language in the outcome document. Others outside the region would also want to have a say about the SCS. Yet, it is important to maintain consistency when dealing with the issue.