For the 1st Asean Charter to become legally binding, it has been agreed upon that all ten member nations must ratify the Charter before the next ASEAN Summit this December 2008. The Charter will become effective on the 30th day after the 10th "Instrument of Ratification" has been submitted to the ASEAN Secretary-General, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan.
To date, the following countries ratified and submitted the "Instrument of Ratification":
Remember what I said before in this post: 5th Country to Ratify the ASEAN Charter?
The next five that will ratify it are (in the following order of my prediction): VietNam, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar.
VietNam ratified the ASEAN Charter last March 6th and submitted the Intrument of Ratification on March 14th. It was signed by VietNam President Nguyen Minh Triet and submitted to ASEAN and the Foreign Ministers of member countries by VietNam Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.
Four countries left, namely - Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Myanmar. With the recent developments, I am more inclined that Thailand will ratify the Charter before Indonesia. The road for the new ASEAN is getting clearer, and slowly, the heavy burden is being put on the shoulders of Myanmar. The next three countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines) are the founding fathers of ASEAN, if Myanmar ratifies the charter before them, then that will be big news.
Let's all hope for the best!
| Member State | Government Ratification | Deposit of Instrument of Ratification | Signed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore | Tuesday, 2007 December 18 | Monday, 2008 January 07 | Prime Minister |
| Brunei Darussalam | Thursday, 2008 January 31 | Friday, 2008 February 15 | Sultan of Brunei Darussalam |
| Malaysia | Thursday, 2008 February 14 | Wednesday, 2008 February 20 | Foreign Minister |
| Lao PDR | Thursday, 2008 February 14 | Wednesday, 2008 February 20 | Prime Minister |
| Cambodia | Tuesday, 2008 February 25 | not yet submitted | ? |
| VietNam | Tuesday, 2008 March 06 | Friday, 2008 March 14 | President |
Surprisingly Good... I believe that this is move huge step forward for ASEAN.
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