Warning inequality fuels extremism
MANILA: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak warned yesterday that Southeast Asian countries needed to ensure their economic growth was inclusive, or risk marginalised people turning to violent extremism or even overturning political systems.
‘‘We know that those who see no hope in their own societies are more prone to the siren calls of terrorists who can exploit their vulnerability and fill them with their lies,’’ Najib told an entrepreneurship event during the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Manila.
Islamist extremism is expected to be on the agenda, with fears for Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines about piracy, the rising threat of Islamic State and the ease in which militants can acquire weapons and move between countries.
But the first order of the summit addressed a more pressing threat as Asean called for calm from all involved in the Korean peninsula.
The summit urged North Korea and all parties concerned ‘‘to exercise selfrestraint in order to deescalate the tension and refrain from actions that may aggravate the situation’’.
Najib lauded the success of Asean in expanding its collective GDP to about $US2.7 trillion now, from $US87 billion four decades ago, and said the region could become the world’s fourthlargest economy.
He also warned that economic disparity could be politically destabilising.
‘‘The neglected underclass of those who felt left behind by economic growth, prosperity and globalisation can overturn elections and political systems.’’
The Philippines’ Vicepresident Leni Robredo echoed Najib’s call for leaders to pay more attention to their poor.
‘‘The voiceless and the powerless are now raring to be heard . . . their frustrations are being felt on a global scale,’’ she said.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will chair meetings of the Asean leaders today. He has made it clear Beijing’s activities in the South China Sea will not be discussed, because it would achieve nothing.
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the South China Sea issue was discussed among her counterparts but the focus was on completing guidelines for negotiating an AseanChina maritime code of conduct. Critics say China is trying to buy time.