ASEANs New Basket Case?

While there is a flicker of progress in Myanmar, the light of democracy has been crushed in Malaysia. And it happened in Parliament, as the UMNO-led ruling Barisan Nasional government muscled its way to bulldoze the Peaceful Assembly Bill.

The parliament saw the play of a lethal game as only three opposition lawmakers were allowed to debate the Bill while the the BN and government-friendly lawmakers whined down their razzle-dazzle debates supporting the new piece of legislation.

Earlier this morning, hundreds of lawyers staged the “Walk for Freedom” march to register their opposition to the Bill which is repressive, encroaches into the civil liberties of the people and violates the Federal Constitution.

It is a rare protest as lawyers do not take to the streets in a whim and fancy. But when they walk, it is a slap on the face of the government as it caricatures the lack of democracy and poor governance.

There has been a significant change in Myanmar after the military handed over power to a nominal civilian government last November. No one could deny that releasing the country’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was a big step forward.

Since then, the new government has reached out to her, allowed for street protests, called for peace with ethnic minorities, freed some 230 political prisoners and suspended a highly-suspect Chinese-funded dam project.

In Cambodia there has been concerted effort by the government to weed-out corruption, empower women politically and institute electoral reforms.

We, in direct contrast, are moving backward by curbing the civil liberties of the people. Prime minister Najib Tun Razak, addicted to his flip-flop policies, has gone back on his promise of reforms in the country.

In September, Najib scrapped Section 27 of the Police Act that requires a permit before holding rallies. It was, however, replaced with the more repressive Peaceful Assembly Bill with unacceptable restrictions on freedom of assembly, association and expression – the fundamental principles in a democracy.

The new Bill outlaws all street protests, forces the organizers to give a 10 day notice to the police, regulates, restricts and imposes conditions on an assembly and prohibits anyone under the age of 15 from taking part.

Furthermore, protesters could be slapped with a RM 20,000 fine while organizers who failed to give sufficient notice would be fined RM 10,000.

We will see the play out of this controversial policy in the next weeks and months. We will witness further clamping down of dissent, persecution of opposition politicians and an erosion of civil rights and liberties in the country.

In the lives of ordinary people, we will see tractors bulldozing down their sweat and blood as they are powerless to protest against corrupt contractors and an equally corrupt police force. We will see the voice of the poor being muffled even further.

Is this the future we envision for our country?

Yes, the Peaceful Assembly Bill is unconstitutional and unfair. But could the government win? To answer this question with a resounding NO, we need the rakyat to exercise their right at the ballot boxes to vote out a corrupt regime.
Charles Santiago
Member of Parliament, Klang

 

[Video] Perjanjian perdagangan bebas antara negara China dengan ASEAN

Source : Youtube / DAP

 

Jawapan Parlimen : Status perbincangan perdagangan bebas (FTA) di antara EU-ASEAN

Soalan : Tuan Charles Santiago minta Menteri Perdagangan antarabangsa dan industri menyatakan status perbincangan perdagangan bebas di antara EU-ASEAN. Mungkinkah perbincangan FTA ini tukar kepada hala bi-lateral.

Jawapan :

 

ASEANs Pussy-Footing on Burma & Aung San Suu Kyi Violates ASEAN Charter

Press Statement by Member of Parliament Klang Charles Santiago in Klang on 27th May 2009

I call on ASEAN to immediately suspend all ties – economic, military and diplomatic – with the Burmese/Myanmar military junta until steps to end the violation of human rights and the release of all political prisoners are initiated as part of a true national reconciliation in that country.

The political prisoners include Aung San Suu Kyi and hundreds of other individuals who are either under house arrest or are incarcerated behind bars merely because of their pro-democracy activities and aspirations. Aung San Suu Kyi, in particular, has been under an unjust six-year house arrest, a sentence due to end this Thursday on May 27, 2009. On the pretext of an intrusion by a US national several weeks ago, the trumped up charges against her will likely be extended for another three to five years.

More importantly the Burmese regime should bring about a reconciliation with its own people. Yet again, this cannot be done until the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who symbolises the democratic aspirations of the Burmese people.

This would also signal the junta’s readiness to come to terms with its decades’ old hijacking and distortion of ‘the Socialist Way’ and insulation of Burma from what it sees as the attempt of Western powers, particularly the US, to determine the country’s future.

To paraphrase a popular quote of Aung San Suu Kyi, ASEAN should use its liberties to help Burmese promote theirs.

As of now, ASEAN as a regional bloc involving Burma have failed to do its part in compelling Burma to end its violations of human rights.Some, such as Malaysia, have even acquiesced to their multinational corporations benefiting from the oppression in the war- and poverty-torn country.

As an ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) parliamentarian, I strongly call on ASEAN to stop protecting Burma’s regime and remove them from the grouping until and unless Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners are free and genuine efforts to begin national reconciliation are underway.

Efforts by the international community to hold the regime accountable for its criminal acts through targeted economic sanctions and UN Security Council actions have been cushioned by ASEAN’s (and China’s) economic and political buffering of the regime.

I support AIPMCs call to ASEAN member states to consider imposing targeted sanctions on the military regime generals and its administration should they still fail to respect the ASEAN Charter and continue to oppress its people.

Change cannot be achieved in Burma if ASEAN’s current positions and policies remain.

Charles Santiago

Member of Parliament, Klang

Vice-Chairman of Selangor Democratic Action Party

016 626 7797

—————————————————————————————————–

巴生国会议员查尔斯圣地亚哥文告，2009年5月27日于巴生

起诉昂山素枝违反东协宪章，东协应冻结与缅甸所有关系

我促请东协马上冻结和缅甸军人政府的所有联系 – 经济、军事和外交，直到缅甸采取行动停止侵犯人权和释放所有政治扣留犯，作为该国真正全国和解的部分措施。

昂山素枝和逾百名其他政扣者或被囚于屋内，或身陷铁牢，仅仅因为他们参与民主运动和怀有民主愿景。特别是昂山素枝，她被不公正的囚禁已长达六年，这个刑罚原本将于这星期三5月27日终止。以数星期前一个美国人闯入昂山素枝屋内为藉口，军人政府的恶意提控很可能导致她被延续扣留三至五年。

更重要的是缅甸政府必须和它的人民和解，这在昂山素枝被释放前无法达成，她代表了缅甸人民的民主愿景。这将显示缅甸政府准备结束数十年的骑劫和扭曲“社会主义模式”及侮辱缅甸，他们视此为西方强权–特别是美国–企图决定该国的未来。

引用昂山素枝的一句经典言论 – 东协必须使用它们的自由，以协助缅甸人争取自由。

目前，缅甸是东协的其中一个会员国，然而东协在阻止缅甸侵犯人权方面完全失败。一些东协成员国的跨国企业从缅甸的高压统治、战争和贫穷中赚取盈利，马来西亚是其中之一。

身为东协国会议员缅甸民主小组(AIPMC)成员，我强烈呼吁东协停止维护缅甸政府及革除其会员籍，直到昂山素枝和所有政扣者被释放，以及落实真正的全国和解。

国际社群通过经济制裁和联合国安全理事会行动，要求缅甸政府为它的罪行负责的努力，一直被东协（和中国）的经济和军人政府的政治屏障所牵制。

我支持东协国会议员缅甸民主小组的呼吁，如果军人政府无法遵守东协宪章及继续压迫人民，东协成员国考虑对缅甸实行制裁。

如果东协保持现有的立场和政策，缅甸的状况不可能有所改变。

查尔斯圣地亚哥 敬上

巴生区国会议员

雪州行动党副主席

016 626 7797

 

The EU–ASEAN Free Trade Agreement: Region-to-region versus the bilateral approach (Video)

Source : TNI

“ASEAN should build a different kind of regionalism and not sign bilateral Free Trade Agreements with the EU”, says Malaysian MP Mr. Charles Santiago in Brussels in a debate with Mr. Bercero, chief negotiator for the EU in the EU-Korea FTA and Mr. Helmut Markov, chair of the Committee on International Trade of the European Parliament.

This debate highlighted key issues in the current negotiations between the EU and ASEAN such as:

– the EU’s aggressive approach to liberalization of all goods and services
– the lack of transparency in the negotiations
– the contradictions between the region-to-region approach vs. the bilateral approach to the negotiations
– and the fact that FTAs are no way out of the crisis

The debate, part of TNI’s Debating Europe series, was held on 28th April 2009 in Brussels.

Watch the videos of Mr. Bercero and Mr. Helmut Markov – Here

 

Debating Europe Series: The EU – ASEAN Free Trade Agreement

Source : Transnational Institute

Region-to-region versus the Bilateral approach

Date	28 April 2009
Location	Brussels, Belgium
Type of activity	public debate
Speaker(s)	Charles Santiago, Helmut Markov
Description	DATE: Tuesday, April 28 2009 TIME: 8.45 – 10.45, breakfast will be served. Registration starts at 8.30 VENUE: Résidence Palace – International Press Centre, Salle Maelbeek, Rue de la Loi 155 – Bloc C, 1040 Brussels

Debate panel

– Mr. Charles Santiago, Member of Parliament in Malaysia for the Democratic Action Party

– Mr. Helmut Markov, Member of European Parliament for the GUE/NGL, chairman of the European Parliament Committee on International Trade

European Commission representative (to be confirmed)

In May 2007, the European Union launched its Asia policy strategy – the New Partnership for the 21st Century with Asia. The initiative included simultaneous negotiations for Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with India, Korea and ASEAN. The proposed EU-ASEAN FTA aims for reciprocal and progressive liberalization of all goods and services, and the inclusion of the so-called Singapore issues – already rejected by developing countries in the WTO Doha Round negotiations. A distinct feature of the negotiations between the EU and ASEAN is the region-to-region approach. Talks so far however failed to generate the needed momentum and might lead to a bilateral approach to the negotiations, similar to what has happened with ongoing negotiations the EU is conducting with Colombia, Peru and Ecuador after the break of negotiations with the Andean Community of Nations region.

This Debate will deal with some of the following questions: what will be the effect of the FTA on economic development in Southeast Asia? How will the proposed agreement affect the asymmetries within the region? Will it help address the development gaps that exist within the region or will it only exacerbate the disparities and widen the development divide? In case the negotiations with the region shift to a bilateral approach, how will this impact on regional integration in ASEAN, given ASEAN’s own assertions of regional unity with the historic adoption of the ASEAN Charter?

This event is part of ‘Debating Europe’, a debate series organised in Brussels by the Transnational Institute with policy makers, MEPs and representatives of Civil Society.

For registration and information contact:
Pablosanchez@tni.org
00 32 (0) 486. 50 79 96

 

Jawapan Parlimen : Dana Asean

Soalan : Charles Santiago [Klang] minta Menteri Kewangan menyatakan mengenai Dana Asean sebanyak US $120 billion. Berapakah sumbangan Malaysia dan negara-negara Asean lain. Apakah tujuan dan bagaimanakah dana ini akan digunakan untuk memulihkan ekonomi di rantau ini.

Jawapan :

 

Perundingan FTA di antara ASEAN-EU

Y.B. TUAN CHARLES SANTIAGO ANTHONY A/L R. SANTIAGO (KLANG) minta MENTERI PERDAGANGAN ANTARABANGSA DAN INDUSTRI menyatakan kepentingan Malaysia di perundingan FTA di antara ASEAN-EU. Berapa perundingan (negotiation rounds) telah diadakan dan apakah status perbincangan pada masa kini di antara dua blok ini.

 

MP: Set up Asean rice buffer stock

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/Streets/Thursday/Stories/2270955/Article/index_html

Charles Santiago says the food and energy crisis is a crisis of liberalisation

KLANG: Members of Asean should create common buffer stocks of important commodities and help each other weather the economic storm by selling them to each other at discounted rates.

Klang MP Charles Santiago said for a start, the government should look into organising a rice buffer with producers like Thailand and Vietnam.

Speaking at the People’s Forum: Mid-term Review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan on Monday, Santiago said: “These countries could sell rice at prices below the international market rate to Malaysia and other Asean countries.

“Likewise, Malaysia could also sell its oil and palm oil to other Asean countries at an affordable rate.”

He said an economic partnership as such could lead to a new approach in organising regionalism.

“Alternatively, an Asean buffer fund could be set up to help countries that face an emergency situation.

“The energy and food crisis is a ‘crisis of liberalisation’. This requires rethinking liberalisation or deregulation as an economic strategy in the food and agriculture sector.”

Santiago said: “A good example is Venezuela, which sells its oil to Ecuador and other countries below the international market price. Ecuador too, exports other products to Venezuela.”

He added that the mid-term review should also be bold enough to formulate a sustainable social safety net, a minimum wage and job security for Malaysian workers.

“The biggest challenge is to ensure good governance, accountability and transparency in the management of our resources.”

 

‘Buffer fund’ to ease Asian food crisis

Source : Inquirer.net

‘Buffer fund’ to ease Asian food crisis, group says

By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:11:00 06/10/2008

MANILA, Philippines — Leaders from Southeast Asian nations must work together to put up a “buffer fund” to minimize the impact of the current food crisis and prevent food riots in the region, an international organization of civil society groups said Monday.

In a news briefing in Quezon City, leaders of Asia-Europe People’s Forum (AEPF) said the worsening problem of food and fuel security should serve as a wake-up call to world leaders to come together and find “alternative solutions” to the crises.

The group, composed of officials of various political groups from European and Asian countries, blamed the food and fuel shortage on “globalization” which they said has led to increasing human rights violations in many developed and developing nations.

Charles Santiago, a Malaysian parliamentarian and member of the international organizing committee of AEPF, said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), being the most influential group in the region, must institute measures to lessen the impact of the food crisis on marginalized sectors, which will suffer the most from the economic downturn.

The setting up of a buffer fund could be one way of keeping prices from skyrocketing, said Santiago, director of the Malaysian group Monitoring Sustainability of Globalization.

“In the spirit of solidarity, the buffer fund must be created to reduce the prices of rice, corn and other goods which could be used as a basis for exchange among countries,” he said.

Santiago said the use of a buffer fund proved to be successful in keeping the supply and price of crude oil stable in Latin America.

“I think it’s just a matter of time before people get fed up and start protesting in the streets because their money can no longer buy (enough) food,” he said.

Santiago said the buffer system will work like a “rice council,” similar to what the Mekong countries of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam suggested.

“But unlike what Thailand wanted, it will not be a cartel. The buffer fund will (showcase) the leading export products of each nation so we can avoid monopolies in the supply and pricing of commodities,” he said.

Santiago, meanwhile, said speculators and fund managers of multinational companies should also be held liable for the unprecedented rise in the prices of grains and oil.

After speculating on real estate and money markets in the late 1990s, fund managers have started to speculate on agricultural products, like rice, corn and soy beans, to bring about the unusual price increases in the past few years, he said.

“Once they push the prices of commodities very high, the companies of these fund managers earn a lot. This is what happened during the Asian financial crisis more than 10 years ago,” he said.

The group held a three-day seminar in Quezon City over the weekend and said they would present the results of their discussions at the AEPF annual forum in Beijing, China, and the ASEAN leaders meeting in December.