Thai Government Crisis Forces Postponement of ASEAN SummitThailand has postponed a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders, which was to begin later this month, after a court ruled that the Thai prime minister and his party are banned from politics. Source: Kate Pound Dawson, Bangkok
http://voanews.com/english/2008-12-02-voa18.cfmThe annual summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations now will be held in March. The gathering had been scheduled to start preliminary meetings December 13. Heads of government were to start discussions on the 15.
The Thai government announced the postponement shortly after a constitutional court ruled that Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and his People Power Party would be banned from politics for election law violations. An interim government will operate until members of parliament can select a new prime minister.
Summit delay could complicate charter effortsThitinan Pongsudhirak is an international relations professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. He says the delay could complicate ASEAN's efforts to finalize its first charter. The charter aims to create an ASEAN community that would more closely integrate the 10 members.
"This is something that ASEAN sees as its way of integration and going forward into the global arena. But the postponement will hinder this process and there will be questions from Thailand's neighbors in ASEAN whether Thailand is prepared to the host, the chair of ASEAN in the next 18 months," said Thitinan.
