Landmark charter unlikely to include sanctions: ASEAN chief
SINGAPORE (AFP) - ASEAN's landmark charter aimed at reshaping the 10-nation regional bloc is unlikely to contain provisions to impose sanctions on its members, secretary general Ong Keng Yong said Monday.
Almost 90 percent of the text of the charter's first draft is already completed, he said at a lunch organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.
"I don't think we will have a provision for voting or sanctions on any guy who did not measure up," said Ong.
"Even if you provide a paragraph for sanctions and nobody follows it, what does it mean? It's even worse... we come across as more hypocritical," he said.
A draft of the final charter is supposed to be presented to leaders at the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore in November.
The landmark charter is aimed at transforming ASEAN from a group known for operating by consensus and staying out of each other's affairs into a rules-based organization along the lines of the European Union.
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