ASEAN as conflict mediator

Friday, 11 February 2011

The Jakarta Post

Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa was quick off the mark in trying to mediate the conflict that erupted between Cambodia and Thailand this weekend. As chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia is required under the ASEAN Charter to offer its good offices to member countries that are in conflict. After Marty met with his counterparts in Phnom Penh on Monday and Bangkok on Tuesday, the question now is whether the two sides are willing to turn to the ASEAN Charter to resolve their dispute, or will turn to mechanisms beyond ASEAN mediation.

The two countries clashed along a disputed border, leaving casualties on both sides and damaging the Preah Vihar Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site. But, early signals from both capitals indicated they were reluctant to accept ASEAN mediation. The Cambodian news agency AKP reported that Prime Minister Hun Sen asked the UN to intervene to arrange a buffer zone in the disputed area. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was quoted by the AFP as saying that ASEAN’s intervention was “unnecessary”.

With such attitudes, Marty had his job cut out for him even before leaving Jakarta on his peace mission. Still, we sincerely hope that the foreign minister managed to convince Thailand and Cambodia’s leaders to give the ASEAN dispute settlement mechanism a chance before they turn to outside mediators.  

The least the Thais and Cambodians can do is show their confidence in the ASEAN Charter, the foundation of a community that comprises the 10 nations in the region. They should also trust Indonesia to be an honest broker. Indonesia boasts a fairly good track record as the region’s peacemaker, playing the lead role in Cambodian peace talks in the 1980s and in mediating peace between the Philippine government and Moro rebels in the south in the 1990s. As the largest country in Southeast Asia, Indonesia has some clout and influence in the region.

Given that such clashes between the two countries are now becoming more frequent, Thailand and Cambodia should seriously consider resolving the conflict once and for all to prevent further bloodshed. After all, didn’t they sign the ASEAN Charter with the commitment to build an ASEAN community? And, Marty should push a little harder to bring them to the negotiating table.