ASEAN to hold its first joint military exercise
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will conduct its first-ever joint military exercise in the North Natuna Sea—the Southernmost part of the South China Sea—hosted by Indonesia, the ASEAN chair this year.
The drill will be dubbed ASEAN Solidity Exercise or Asec01N and will take place in September 2023 involving all 10 members of the ASEAN bloc and observer member Timor-Leste. This would mean the Myanmar junta will also join the drill despite the atrocities in Myanmar since the coup in 2021. The first-ever joint exercise will be about ASEAN Centrality and will focus on maritime security and rescue; it will not include any combat operations training.
Khairul Fahmi, a military and security analyst, believed “this is a concrete form of defense diplomacy to build trust, reduce concerns, and misunderstandings between countries, especially ASEAN.” At the same time, the drill will also affirm Indonesia’s sovereign rights in the North Natuna Sea which China claims as part of its nine-dash line. Others are focused on Cambodia whose support for a drill in the South China Sea was not confirmed and the country is conducting a further study before making a decision to join.
This military exercise will be the first time ASEAN—as a bloc – has conducted such a drill and if successfully done, it will showcase a new path for military cooperation in the region.
Thailand’s Prime Minister frontrunner Pita faces election probe
Despite the election victory of Pita Limjaroenrat, the Prime Minister (PM) frontrunner will be investigated by the election commission over whether he is qualified to be Thailand’s next prime minister.
Mr Pita is reported to have inherited shares in the ITV television station, which has not been broadcasting since 2007, from his father. The Thai Constitution prohibits any election candidate running for an MP seat from “being the owner of, or a shareholder in any newspaper or mass media business”. Any party leader or party executive who accepts the appointment, despite being aware of their lack of qualification, risks a maximum prison sentence of three years and/or a fine of up to 60, 000 baht—the party involved also faces a fine of up to 100, 000 baht.
Following this revelation, the Election Commission Chairman said “there is sufficient information and evidence to warrant further investigation into whether Mr. Pita is qualified to run in the election” which could result in his disqualification and up to 10 years in jail with 20 years ban from politics. However, Mr Pita denies any wrongdoing and his party says it is not worried about the allegations while the Move Forward party’s Secretary General is confident that people power will win in the end, and the election commission will work honestly based on constitutional principles. Some believed that the Thai court and Election Commission have already lost their credibility for many years as the court has been compromised and politicised. Others believed that this probe provides enough excuse for many Thai senators who intended not to vote for Mr Pita to justify their move. There is also fear that if Pita is blocked from becoming prime minister, it could plunge the kingdom into crisis, with protesters likely to flood the streets.
The path to becoming a Prime Minister for Mr Pita is still a long way to go and it seems this allegation could also become a major obstacle for him to becoming the PM despite winning the national election.
PM Hun Sen orders a constitutional amendment
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on 13 June 2023 that his government will amend the country’s election law to bar anyone who fails to vote from running as a candidate in future elections.
This new law will be ready for approval by lawmakers before the July 23 general election. The law would prevent opposition politicians in self-imposed exile from running in future elections. It would also discourage any election boycott by placing opposition figures who wished to contest future polls in the awkward position of appearing to be hypocrites if they called for people not to vote while they themselves cast ballots. The government would still adhere to the rights of citizens in relation to whether or not to vote in the election; however, they would lose their right to be a candidate if they choose not to vote.
It is expected that the bill’s passage is a certainty since all members of the National Assembly are members of PM Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch’s Deputy Director Asia Division, said Hun Sen is trying to pressure people to vote because he thinks a high voter percentage will bring legitimacy to the election. However, the Ministry of Justice spokesman explained that the purpose of the amendments is to encourage political leaders at the national and sub-national levels to behave responsibly; while the executive director of NICFEC believed that “Hun Sen wants a lot of people to vote because he knows that certain candidates will not go to vote, so the amendment is aimed at getting people to vote.”
This amendment would restrict future candidates, who do not vote in this election, from running in a future general election thus giving the CPP an even further advantage in the country’s future polls.
Indonesian court rejects a petition to change the voting system
Indonesia’s Constitutional Court rejected a lawsuit, on 15 June 2023, seeking a change to the country’s election ballot system ahead of the 2024 election.
The case was brought by several politicians—including members of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)—to challenge the General Election Law of 2017 and push Indonesia towards a restricted political system in which voters can choose parties and not choose local candidates directly, with the party then deciding the winning candidate internally. However, the court declared that it “rejects the plaintiffs‘ petition in its entirety.”
With just eight months out from next year’s simultaneous presidential and legislative elections, controversies roam that the case could have been a tactic to postpone the election and extend President Joko Widodo’s two terms in office. Despite President Widodo’s denial of his ambition to extend his power, some argue that the current open system has created a money-driven competition between candidates with many accusations of vote-buying. Tim Lindsey, an expert on Indonesian law said the court ruling is a “rare positive sign for democracy in Indonesia at a time when it often seems under threat there or even in regression”.
The court’s denial of this petition is a relief to many political parties and pro-democracy activists that Indonesia is still on track with its democracy and that the people will continue to vote for individual politicians, instead of parties, in future elections.
AUTHOR
Sovinda Po is a Research Assistant at the Griffith Asia Institute.
