Anwar’s move to appoint foreign advisers on Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship ‘unusual’ and ‘maverick’. Will it work?
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s appointment of informal advisers to his country’s chairmanship of a Southeast Asian grouping has stirred debate and raised questions on how exactly it might work.
Analysts have described Anwar’s move as unprecedented and possibly aimed at making headway in “almost intractable” regional issues such as the Myanmar crisis and tensions in the South China Sea, as one observer put it.
But it remains to be seen if he follows through with the plan, they said.
Anwar said on Monday (Dec 16) that former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra would be part of an “informal” team of experienced statesmen he will tap as Malaysia chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year.
Making the announcement during an official visit to Malaysia by Thai prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is Thaksin’s daughter, Anwar said the “informal set-up” would comprise “a team of members from ASEAN countries”.
The team reportedly could include former Singapore foreign minister George Yeo and former Indonesia foreign minister Retno Marsudi.
Yeo, who has spoken and written extensively on China since leaving public office in 2011, had been a key advocate for ASEAN integration while Marsudi, who is now the United Nations’ special envoy on water, has considerable experience dealing with the Myanmar issue, not least during Indonesia’s chairmanship of the 10-member ASEAN in 2023.
CNA has contacted both for comment.
No ASEAN chair “in recent memory” has appointed a team of informal advisers although it is quite common for ASEAN to appoint eminent persons or high-level task forces to focus on specific issues, said Sharon Seah, senior fellow and coordinator at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak