SAARC Secretariat: A Critique
Abul Ahsan |
The
secretariat of any organisation
or institution as the
Secretariat of South
Asian Association of
Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) is a vital instrument
for the realisation
of its aims and objectives.
Its head, whether he
is designated as the
Secretary General1 or
by any other name, is
the key player. He uniquely
brings to bear regional
perspective and represents
overall interest of
the organisation with
regard to all matters
brought before it for
consideration. This
may not always be the
case with other institutions
of the body comprising
representatives of member
states who are required
to look at issues from
the point of view of
their respective countries.
For several reasons
peculiar to the region,
the role of the secretariat
is particularly important
in South Asia.
Reviewing
SAARC Secretariat
The SAARC secretariat
was set up at Kathmandu
in January 1987 about
two years after the
seven nation organisation
with Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka
as members came into
being. A review of the
role and function of
the SAARC Secretariat
and its Secretary General
is important because
of a number of reasons.
First, the several recent
meetings of the heads
of state or government
of SAARC have taken
some important decisions
and bold initiatives
to strengthen the organisation
and to widen and deepen
regional cooperation.
The 12th2 summit in
Islamabad early this
year, for example, concluded
the agreement on South
Asian Free Trade Area
(SAFTA) under which
that member countries
would bring down tariff
from the existing level
to 0-5 per cent between
the years 2006 and 2015
in two phases. The leaders
re-iterated their commitment
to establish the South
Asian Economic Union
as recommended by the
Group of Eminent Persons
and urged that earnest
step should be taken
in this direction. Special
mention should also
be given to the signing
of SAARC Social Charter
demanding cooperation
in the vital field of
energy and the establishment
of a South Asian Development
Bank. These are areas
which can provide much
needed substance to
regional cooperation.
Secondly, regional organisations
like the European Union
(EU), Association of
South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN) and North American
Free Trade Area (NAFTA)
are now expanding their
membership and scope
of operation. The membership
of the European Union
has recently been increased
from 15 to 25 and when
Romania and Bulgaria
join the forum the number
would rise to 273. Similarly,
NAFTA today consists
of the United States,
Canada and Mexico. It
is expected to have
31 more members by 2005
to form a larger free
trade area extending
through Central and
South America4. In South
East Asia, ASEAN is
reaching out both to
neighbouring China,
Japan and South Korea
through the recently
initiated ASEAN free
trade area arrangement,
the ASEAN +3 initiative
and the mechanisms designated
as Dialogue Partners
and ASEAN Regional Forum
(ARF)5. Recent resurgence
of regional organisations
among industrial nations
is comes from their
sense of frustration
about the tardy progress
in trade negotiations
under the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) and
whatever reduction in
tariff that has taken
place is far short of
their expectations.
The same logic applies
more strongly in the
case of developing countries
like those in South
Asia .The commitments
made earlier by developed
countries to the developing
countries under the
WTO have not been acted
upon and the issues
of vital interest, like
agriculture, intellectual
property rights and
movement of natural
persons are being sidetracked.
If SAARC is to compete
in this environment
and become effective
it needs to have a strong
and result oriented
secretariat.
Role
and function of SAARC
Secretary General
The role and function
of the SAARC secretariat
and the Secretary General
and on the Establishment
of the Secretariat are
provided for in the
Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) signed by foreign
ministers of member
countries on 17 November
1986 at Bangalore India6.
According
to the Memorandum, the
Secretary General is
appointed by the SAARC
Council of Ministers
upon nomination by the
member states on the
principal of rotation
in an alphabetical order.
The other professional
staff is Directors nominated
by each member state
but formally appointed
by the Secretary General.
Under Chapter VIII of
the Memorandum the Secretary
General 'shall be responsible
for co-ordination and
monitoring of the SAARC
activities' and act
as the 'channel of communication
and linkage' between
SAARC and International
Organisations when empowered
by the Standing Committee
to do so and assist
in the organisation
and preparation of SAARC
meetings. The Secretary
General is also the
custodian of the SAARC
documents and publications.
Chapter
III of the Memorandum
provides that the secretariat
shall 'co-ordinate and
monitor' the implementation
of SAARC activities
and 'service the meetings
of the Association'.
The original tenure
of two years of Secretary
General was, subsequently,
raised to three years
at the 9th SAARC Summit
held at Male. Since
the decision of the
11th summit, the Secretary
General holds the rank
of a minister.
Mandate
Exercised by Similar
Secretariats
A survey of the functions
and powers exercised
by secretariats of similar
organisations elsewhere
point to broad common
features. The Secretary
General or his equivalent
in a regional organisation
cannot, no doubt, take
decisions on matters
which are not entrusted
to him by the charter
of the organisation.
These are left to the
member states to decide.
His job generally is
to provide data objective
information and analysis
to facilitate decision-making.
As an institution, conceived
to represent general
interest of the organisation,
and because of its non-partisan
character, the secretariat
in most cases has the
authority to initiate
and propose programmes
and projects to strengthen
cooperation. Once decisions
are taken at the appropriate
intergovernmental level
it is for the Secretary
General to administer,
implement and monitor
follow-up. In most cases
the secretariat also
acts as the guardian
of agreements, understandings
and treaties adopted
by the body and ensures
that these are applied
correctly. In the event
of default, the secretariat
has the duty to draw
attention of the concerned
party to the matter
and urge remedial action.
European
Commission and ASEAN
Secretariat
The European Commission,
which is the secretariat
of the EU, has been
mandated to undertake
policy initiative, propose
legislation as the executive
body of the organisation
and to act as the guardian
of treaties along with
the European Court of
Justice7. It serves
as the honest broker
between conflicting
national interests,
negotiates trade and
cooperation agreements
with foreign countries
and international organisations
and independently decides
on agriculture and trade
policy issues. The President
of the Commission, who
holds tenure of five
years, takes part in
the heads of state and
government meetings.
The Commission has,
over the years, played
a constructive role
in bringing the community
members closer.
The
European Commission
and its president are
given the credit for
their efforts at bringing
about the integration
of the community. It
played a vital role
in realising the European
single-market idea at
the beginning of 1993
and, subsequently, in
finalising the blueprint
for economic and monetary
union8.
The
ASEAN revised the role
and mandate of its Secretariat
several times since
its establishment in
1976 (the ASEAN came
into being about nine
years earlier). The
original mandate of
the Secretariat was
'to provide for greater
efficiency in co-ordination
of ASEAN organs and
for more effective implementation
of ASEAN projects and
activities' Subsequent
amendments made in 1983,
1985, 1989, 1992, were
aimed at providing more
manpower resources,
authority over and freedom
of operation to the
Secretary General. The
Manila protocol signed
in July 19929raised
the term of office of
the Secretary General
to five years. He works
as the channel of communication
between different organs
and institutions of
the ASEAN as well as
foreign governments
and international organisations.
The
Secretary General is
mandated to initiate
plans, programmes and
activities to strengthen
regional cooperation,
prepare the Three-Year
Plan of cooperation
and monitor its implementation.
All funds established
for ASEAN cooperation
are administered by
the Secretary General.
He is the spokesman
of the organisation
and represents the body
on all matters.
In
organisational terms,
the Secretary General
is appointed by the
heads of state and government
on merit and enjoys
the rank of a minister.
The professional staff
is recruited through
region-wise open competition,
as compared to SAARC
where all directors
are nominees of the
member countries.
Need
to Change SAARC Secretariat
SAARC Secretariat hardly
exercises even a modest
role assigned to it
by the Charter. It has
only occasionally been
involved in the preparation
of documentation for
important meetings.
The Standing Committee
and the Technical Committees,
which comprise representatives
of member nations, are
currently assigned the
function of monitoring
and co-coordinating
SAARC activities. The
SAARC activities are
highly decentralised
and disaggregated. In
fact all activities
are undertaken by the
member states themselves.
The role of the Secretary
General simply acts
as a channel of communication
with the outside world
and seeks specific authorisation
by the Standing Committee10,
since he has no mandate
to communicate with
foreign countries or
outside organisation,
except for the exchange
of published materials.
In matters related to
SAARC agreements, protocols
and understandings,
the Secretary General
has little role. A look
at the Agreement on
Establishment of SAARC
Food Security Reserve11
indicates that the drawing
of food grains from
the reserve is left
to the borrowing and
lending countries. The
two parties will agree
on the terms of the
borrowing and simply
notify the details to
the Food Security Board,
which comprises representatives
of member states. It
is to be noted that
since inception in 1987,
no food grains were
ever withdrawn from
the Reserve.
To
take another example,
any request of a contracting
party for extradition
of an alleged offender
from another party for
violation of provisions
of SAARC Regional Convention
on Suppression of Terrorism12
is left to the concerned
member state to deal
with. The SAARC Secretary
General is the depositary
of all SAARC agreements
and conventions but
his role is restricted
to transmit notification
about their ratification
and the date of their
enforcement. Thus all
SAARC agreements may
be seen merely as an
intention on the part
of member states to
address some common
regional issues but
for all intents and
purposes it is left
to the member states
to work out their implementation
as they deem fit. Finally,
in a singular departure
from the general norm,
funding of the SAARC
activities is to be
undertaken through voluntary
contribution of member
states.
The
SAARC Secretariat is
the only regional institution
available to the organisation
to provide regional
perspective and to realise
the objectives of the
body. Other bodies like
the Technical Committee
or the Standing Committee
are inter-governmental
institutions. Those
who participate in those
meetings take the positions
of their respective
countries. The narrow
mandate and restricted
scope of operation of
the Secretary General
is designed to keep
all the options open
for the member states.
The Charter's provision
that all decisions of
the organisation shall
be taken on the basis
of unanimity and that
the bilateral and contentious
issues shall be excluded
from deliberations provides
each member state with
veto power.
Fragile
Mandate of Secretariat
No doubt the power and
authority of a secretariat
depends on the nature
of cooperation envisaged
and the purpose and
the way member states
use it. It is similar
to the Non-aligned Movement
(NAM), in operation
for more than four decades,
which is merely a consultative
forum; its decisions
having no mandatory
force and has also not
found it necessary to
have a secretariat for
itself. The co-coordinating
mechanisms at New York,
Geneva and a few other
places as well as the
host countries of respective
events have managed
meetings and other activities.
On the other hand, the
European Union is the
most integrated regional
institution. It is an
economic union with
a common currency and
an elected parliament
that allows free flow
of goods, services,
capital and labour.
It has common external
tariff and close cooperation
in political security
and economic cooperation
policy. As a result,
the European Commission,
as mentioned earlier,
has been given wide
powers and freedom by
the constitution to
operate in the interest
of the Union. The ASEAN,
which started with a
modest agenda is progressively
expanding and deepening
cooperation and has
over the years transformed
into a dynamic regional
organisation. The growing
power and responsibility
assigned to the Secretary
General is a measure
of a realisation on
the part of member states
that a strong secretariat
is vital to carry the
body forward. It may
be noted that the SAARC
charter defines the
aims and objective of
the organisation in
rather general terms.
(To promote the welfare
of the peoples of South
Asia' and to promote
'active collaboration
and mutual assistance'
etc.)13 But as the organisation
is currently poised
for qualitative transformation
in its scope of work,
it should follow other
successful organisations
in the revitalisation
of the secretariat.
Conclusion
SAARC has, so far, achieved
little. The stringent
controls over the economies
by governments of the
region and their inward
looking policy administered
by a corrupt and inefficient
bureaucracy have hampered
effective regional cooperation.
Most crucially, the
strained relationship
between India and Pakistan,
the two major countries
of the area, and the
lack of goodwill, trust
and confidence have
seriously impeded the
progress. Consequently,
the strict control imposed
on the Secretary General
is symptomatic of member
states' hesitation to
part with a degree of
their sovereignty. The
resumption of long stalled
dialogue between India
And Pakistan following
the meeting of the leaders
of the two countries
during the January 2004
SAARC summit in Islamabad
and the economic reform
measures undertaken
by all South Asian countries
since 1990s should positively
impact on the SAARC
process. Also important
are the spread of education,
democratic awareness
and the emergence of
a growing middle class
in the region with fresh
ideas priorities and
aspirations. It is time
the civil society in
the region and the media,
in particular, played
a proactive role to
mobilise public opinion
for regional cooperation
and to underline the
cost of non cooperation.
The well-being of the
people of the region
should not be allowed
to remain hostage to
the outmoded ideas of
security and national
chivalry.
(Abul
Ahsan is Vice-President
of Independent University
Bangladesh. He has also
served as Foreign Secretary
Bangladesh and first
SAARC Secretary General)
End
Notes
- The
term secretariat and
secretary general
is used interchangeably
through out the article.
- For
the Declaration of
the 12th SAARC Summit,
see Daily Dawn, Karachi,
7 January 2004.
- Taniguchi
Makoto, 'Time for
An East Asian Economic
Zone', Japan Echo,
(Japan Echo Inc, December
2003), pp. 28-29.
- Ibid.
- Association
of South East Asian
Nations - An Overview,
(Jakarta: ASEAN Secretariat,
2004).
- Memorandum
of Understanding on
the Establishment
of the SAARC Secretariat
Information and Media
Division, (Kathmandu:
SAARC Secretariat,
June 1999).
- Pascal
Fontaine, Europe in
12 Lessons, (European
Commission Publications,
Brussels), October,
2003.
- Role
of the European Commission,
(Brussels: EU 2003).
- The
ASEAN Secretariat:
Basic Mandate Function
and Composition, (ASEAN
Secretariat, 2004).
- Op.cit.
Memorandum of Understanding
of the Establishment
of the Secretariat
(SAARC secretariat
Publication, 1987).
- Agreement
on Establishing the
SAARC Food Security
Reserve, (Kathmandu:
SAARC Secretariat
July 2002).
- SAARC
Regional Convention
on Suppression of
Terrorism, (Kathmandu:
SAARC Secretariat).
- Ibid.
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