ASEAN MINISTERIAL TO GO AHEAD IN JAKARTA

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 002200 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MLS, EAP/MTS, EAP/RSP NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV SUBJECT: ASEAN MINISTERIAL TO GO AHEAD IN JAKARTA REF: JAKARTA Classified By: A/Pol/C Stanley Harsha, reasons 1.4 (b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: ASEAN Foreign Ministers will meet in Jakarta in mid-December to continue implementation of the organization's charter. These meetings come in the wake of the decision to postpone the ASEAN Summit, which was to have taken place in Thailand. Thailand will still technically host the meetings since they remain Chair but the ASEAN Secretariat will likely play a key organizational role. END SUMMARY. MINISTERIAL TO MAINTAIN MOMENTUM ¶2. (SBU) ASEAN is gearing up for a series of ministerial meetings in Jakarta on/about December 15. This comes following the postponement of the ASEAN Summit--which had been slated for December 15-18 in Chiang Mai--due to the political crisis in Thailand. Contacts told us that ASEAN members believed the Jakarta meeting was necessary to maintain momentum in implementing the ASEAN Charter following the postponement of the summit. ¶3. (SBU) As things stand now, the Jakarta meetings will have three distinct elements: --A general meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers; --An ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting with the high-level panel that is drafting the terms of reference for the ASEAN Human Rights Body; and, --An ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting with the ASEAN high-level expert legal group. (This meeting will review various matters relating to the Charter's implementation, including the legal status of member states' representatives to the ASEAN Secretariat.) ¶4. (SBU) Most ministers are expected to travel to Jakarta immediately after participating in the December 10-11 Bali Democracy Forum (ref Jakarta 2170). Some of the ministerial meetings may begin as early as December 12. Meetings among lower-level officials will precede the ministerial. ¶5. (SBU) ASEAN Secretariat officials told us that Singapore is pushing for an ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting before the end of 2008. However, a date and location for this meeting has not yet been set. WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE? ¶6. (C) Key elements of these meetings remain in flux, according to George Lantu, Deputy Director for ASEAN Political and Security Cooperation at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU). Although the meetings will occur in Jakarta, Lantu stressed that Thailand was technically the host since it remained ASEAN Chair. Thailand was still responsible for developing the meetings' agenda. He said that Indonesia's playing too great an organizational role in the upcoming meetings was a sensitive matter. Indonesia worried about the perception that it was trying to usurp Thailand's prerogatives as ASEAN Chair. Lantu said Indonesia was urging the ASEAN Secretariat to play a greater role organizing the meetings. HUME