‘People need to recognize themselves as ASEAN people’

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Mon, 02/23/2009 9:11 AM  

Leader of Thailand’s Democrat Party, 44-year-old British-born and Oxford-educated Abhisit Vejjajiva, was elected the Thai Prime Minister in mid-December last year after months of political unrest that ruined the country’s reputation as one of Southeast Asia’s most significant democracies. During his short visit to Indonesia last week, the “housewives’ choice” prime minister talked with several Indonesian journalists, including The Jakarta Post’s Erwida Maulia, about various issues, ranging from the anger of supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the Rohingya boatpeople and the progress in the implementation of the ASEAN Charter. The following is an excerpt. 

Question: How do you handle the resistance of Thaksin’s supporters to you leadership? 

Answer: I think the best way to handle all these problems is by working with people and proving that we are here to address their concerns. After by-elections countrywide the government won by a big majority, this means that the people want to give us an opportunity. And over the last term (about two months), we’ve made significant progress and people accept that we are working very hard to address the economic issues, pushing through the stimulus package, steering the mid-year budget which has been passed in lower house and to be passed in the Senate on Monday. We could also prove that the government is working again after all those troubles last year. 

What will you do with Thaksin? Will you bring him home to Thailand for reconciliation and to calm his supporters? 

We will seek extradition but we can’t. I think reconciliation has to be achieved through justice and the rule of law. Thaksin has violated the law; he has to accept the consequences of that. But you know that Thailand is a very forgiving society. But you have to be, under the law you have to accept your responsibilities, face the consequences of your actions. 

Regarding the global economic recession, how do you project the growth of the Thai economy? 

Like many emerging economies, especially open economies, we have been badly hit by the drop in global demands. So our export numbers and tourism numbers over the last three to four months have been very bad. What we do is we try to sustain and stimulate the domestic market. But, that cannot fully replace the drop in the global demand. 

Obviously we have not seen problems of this scale before and nobody is quite sure when the global economy will see an upturn. 

But I still believe that good coordination and strong packages worldwide, and most importantly swift and clear decision making on the financial climate in the United States and in Europe, will help ease the situation as the end of the year approaches. 

About the problems in Southern Thailand, will your government consider  inviting Indonesia into a mediation process to help solve the problems? 

Indonesia has been very helpful in explaining the situation to the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC). There are also organizations like the Nahdlatul Ulama and the Muhammadiyah which offer scholarship exchanges. They came to help expand the opportunities of young people in the area and help us in solving the problems. We appreciate that. 

What kind of role do you expect Indonesia to play? 

We have had very good discussions with the President [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono], and we understand in essence that this is a domestic problem, but, you know, you have the experience; we are keen to learn from you. 

During your talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, what do you and ASEAN plan to do regarding the Rohingya boat people? 

There are things that we can do unilaterally in terms of stopping the trade of humans and human trafficing. Thailand will do its part. I have already referred these cases in terms of smuggling and trading in humans to the special investigation department so that we can crack down on this in Thailand. But it won’t be enough. We need regional cooperation, and we also expect the international organizations like the UNHCR to try stop the problem from its source. 

Basically these are people who seek special opportunities and they enter various countries illegally. Of course we could leave it up to individual countries to deal with, like all countries do in the world. But clearly this is something that would be better handled if there was some kind of regional cooperation. So ASEAN could discuss it, the Bali Process would be used, and we propose to set up a contact group of affected countries to work closely with international organizations to find a better solution. 

Does this mean that the Rohingya issue will be a main topic at the upcoming ASEAN Summit? 

I think it will be discussed during the summit, but there are so many other important matters on the agenda too. Myanmar will be present. For ASEAN countries wanting to realize the ASEAN community, we need to have a more open talk about issues that matter to people in the region. We’re not going to be engaged in the blame game, but we will try to seek solutions that will help better the lives of the people in the region. 

Do you think the ASEAN Charter will do much to promote democracy in Southeast Asia? 

One of the elements that we will certainly help push forward is the setting up of the ASEAN human rights body, which needs to be both realistic and credible. I think we’ll make good progress. We hope that by the 15th Summit this body can be approved. 

What kind of steps do you think can be taken to work toward the realization of an ASEAN community? 

The real challenge is first of all to raise the people’s awareness [about ASEAN]. Because of the diversity in the region, the recognition of all the people that they are part of the ASEAN is still not strong. We need to have people recognize themselves as ASEAN people, and that still needs a lot of work. We will begin the process at the 14th ASEAN Summit which will provide the opportunity for parliamentarians, youth groups and civil societies to meet the leaders.