INTRODUCTION

When the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the Thirteenth ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur in December 2005 agreed to start the process of drafting an ASEAN Charter, many welcome the decision as a significant landmark for progress. The decision was applauded with great enthusiasm both within and without the region, including by elements of civil society. The proposed process was really encouraging. It started with the decision by ASEAN leaders to establish the Eminent Persons Group (EPG), which was tasked to provide inputs for the drafting of the Charter. More importantly, the EPG was asked to be “bold and visionary” in its recommendations. Indeed, the outcome of the EPG's deliberation, in the form of recommendations it provided, has been generally acknowledged as a breakthrough that would really open a new chapter for ASEAN. Anyone familiar with ASEAN's conservatism would know that the EPG Report is indeed bold and visionary. Therefore, the expectation was high that if the EPG's recommendations were taken up by the ASEAN governments, then ASEAN would indeed have a very strong and promising legal-constitutional basis.

After the Charter was signed and unveiled at the Thirteenth ASEAN Summit in Singapore in November 2007, however, the high expectations were not entirely met. The Charter is a much watered-down version of the EPG Report. Members of civil society and academics, especially in democratic countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines, immediately criticized and expressed their disappointment at the Charter and called for either the delay in its ratification or outright rejection. Others quickly defended the Charter as an important achievement that needs to be ratified soon. Until today, those who call for nonratification seem to be on the defensive. Six member states — starting with Singapore — already ratified the Charter without any problem. The remaining four — Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Myanmar — have not yet ratified the Charter, albeit for different reasons.