Singapore sees ASEAN signing charter year from now

CEBU, Philippines, Jan 14 (Reuters) ASEAN aims to have a landmark charter ready for signing at its next summit, as it seeks to become a pivotal player in Asian trade and diplomacy, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said today.

In an interview with Reuters at the annual summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations, he said the leaders' acceptance of a blueprint for the charter was a major step for a group founded in 1967 at the height of the Vietnam War.

''So that next year, at the 40th anniversary, we're not just having fireworks celebrations, but taking a significant step for ASEAN. A Charter ... written and signed ... that's what we're working toward,'' said Lee, who will chair the summit at which the mini-constitution is expected to be unveiled.

The charter would create a rules-based community for a group whose hallmark has been informal diplomacy and decision-making by consensus, which would allow ASEAN to compete better with other blocs, such as the EU, in a globalised economy.

''If we work on consensus each time, we will be hobbled. So let's make rules on what we should vote on,'' said Lee, 55, a Cambridge-educated mathematician.

A charter would strengthen ASEAN institutions and its secretariat ''so we can do business expeditiously''.

''We have 700 meetings a year. Just attending the meetings exhausts everybody, never mind getting results from them.'' One of the most controversial charter proposals -- suspending or even expelling a member for serious breaches -- sparked a lot of debate.

''Some countries have expressed reservations about that proposition,'' said Lee, the eldest son of the city-state's founder Lee Kuan Yew, whose family dominates politics and business in Singapore.

''But I think in principle there has to be rules as to who belongs and what happens, in extremis, if somebody transgresses and has to be excluded.'' BIG DEBATE Asked how ASEAN under its new charter would deal with coups, such as the one in Thailand last September, Lee said: ''We'll deal with it as it comes along.'' ''These are not things that happen every day, but they do happen from time to time. And when they do we'll have to discuss and decide. And each time I'm sure there will be a big debate,'' he said with a laugh.

''We're not the first international grouping with these rules and having to deal with this situation. The Commonwealth deals with it regularly.'' As for Myanmar, ASEAN's most wayward member, Lee said ASEAN was taking a hands-off approach. ''Myanmar has to decide its own way forward. We express our views to them. Whether they move forward, how they move forward.

Ostracizing Myanmar would only drive it into the arms of its powerful neighbours, China and India, who don't want to see the country of 56 million people collapse, he said.

''From Myanmar's point of view they are cutting off the world, so if we say we're cutting them off, I'm not sure they would be unhappy. So better we engage them when they are ready and to the extent they are willing.'' Lee expressed pessimism that the Doha round of World Trade Organization talks, which all but collapsed in July, could be successfully revived.

''I'm not very optimistic that it can be brought back to life. The Indian minister called it somewhere between the emergency room and the morgue, or words to that effect.'' That's why many countries, including Singapore, are hammering out bilateral and regional free-trade agreements (FTA).

''While waiting for the WTO to progress, countries want a fallback plan -- what happens if WTO doesn't go through? So every country now is trying to safeguard or insure its position by concluding FTAs with its major trading partners.'' Reuters SSC RS1744