MALAYSIA HOPES ASEAN SUMMIT WILL GO ON AS PLANNED IN DECEMBER

By D.Arul Rajoo

BANGKOK, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- Malaysia hopes that the 14th Asean Summit will
take place in Thailand as scheduled in December as speculation is rife that the
embattled government will postpone it or move the venue to Chiang Mai from the
capital.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Dr Rais Yatim said it was important
that the summit and other related meetings with dialogues partners went
according to plan from Dec 14 to 18, as any postponement would damage the
10-nation regional grouping's reputation.

"If postponed, it will become a big issue and the international community
will say we can't even hold our summit," he said after meeting Thai Prime
Minister Somchai Wongsawat, and his counterpart and deputy prime minister,
Sompong Amornvivat, to express Malaysia's concern over the the kingdom's border
conflict with Cambodia.

Rais said both the Thai leaders gave an assurance that the summit would be
held as planned and that preparations were going on, despite the five-month
anti-government protests in the capital and the seizure of the Prime Minister's
Office at the Government House.

Asked if the Thai leaders had hinted of any change in venue, Rais said
there
was none.


"They have not mentioned changing the venue from the capital to another
place. But for us, the place is immaterial because the most important thing is
the summit must go on with Thailand as the host," he added.

Asean member countries and diplomats had raised concern over the security
aspect of the summit and Thailand's ability to host it following two violent
incidents in the capital, the latest being on Oct 7 when two protesters were
killed after day-long street battles with the police.

Somchai, who was appointed on Sept 17, has to operate from a makeshift
office at the Don Muang Airport as the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD)
continued to occupy the Government House, seeking his resignation.

Somchai's People Power Party (PPP) is also facing dissolution for election
fraud and the case is now pending at the Constitution Court, raising
speculation that he would dissolve the parliament anytime.

Rais said that among the issues likely to be discussed at the summit were
reorganisation of the Jakarta-based Asean secretariat to make it more
productive and less bureaucratic, food and energy security, intra-Asean matters
and the Asean Charter.

He said Malaysia would also push for the revamp of the Asean Regional Forum
(ARF) to make it more interactive and to allow more meaningful participation
from foreign participants.

-- BERNAMA