http://www.comassoc.org en-gb comassoc.org 2011-10-29T00:00:00Z comassoc.org http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#105674 Yes to the Charter further study for the Commissioner From Stuart Mole Our Man in Perth 29 October 2011 The nonpublication of the EPG report rumbled on through the day. An outrage declared former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. Disgraceful was the verdict of EPG member and former British Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind. So incensed were the EPG that led by their Chairman Tun Abdullah Badawi they took off to the Media Centre this morning and released the report themselves. Further the treatment of the EPGs presentation both by Heads and worse Foreign Ministers clearly rankled. There was a mounting concern that their proposals would not be taken seriously and a desire to exert maximum pressure on Heads before their private discussions of the EPG report in the Retreat later that day. The rhetoric was strong and The Australian reported Canadian EPG member Hugh Segal as saying clearly there are slime people for whom silence is the best option. In the Senators defen... 2011-10-29 15:21:20 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#105665 Spectacular ... surreal ... but South Sudan and the UAE were there From Stuart Mole Our Man in Perth 29 Oct 2011The CHOGM Opening Ceremony at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on the banks of the Swan River was spectacular. Admittedly the Heads entered through the sets central sliding door like celebrities on a latenight chat show. And the seating plan always a test for the Secretariat was idiosyncratic. David Cameron languishing in the back row was trumped by several Foreign Ministers and a High Commissioner. Goodluck Jonathan the recentlyelected President of Nigeria scarcely did much better. The VicePresident of The Gambia representing the former coup leader Yahya Jammeh enjoyed pride of place in the front row. This surreal seating plan reflected in the Official CHOGM photograph will surely make the picture a collectors item. See it for yourself by clicking here . The best speech was given by the Queen as is often the case. She coupled thanks to the Co... 2011-10-29 13:33:26 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#105660 CHOGM and Human Rights in Sri Lanka By Antony Ellman Commonwealth Association member and onetime FAO Adviser to Sri Lanka 29 October 20111 Media attention at CHOGM 2011 has focussed on reforms to the rules of royal succession decriminalising homosexuality and the Eminent Persons Group shooting itself in the foot. Critical issues of protecting human rights to which the Commonwealth claims a deep commitment appear to have fallen off the agenda. The Commonwealth Advisory Bureau and Commonwealth Journalists Association held a debate in London on 17th October on whether the decision to hold CHOGM 2013 in Sri Lanka should be revoked in the light of question marks about the countrys recent human rights record. Both supporters and opponents of Sri Lankas wish to host the summit accepted that credible evidence exists of human rights abuses committed by both Tamil Tigers and Sri Lankan army in the last stages of the conflict. Supporters of the Government argued that th... 2011-10-29 12:01:57 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#105593 Renaissance for the Commonwealth or a post mortem By Michael Holman journalist and Commonwealthwatcher for many years 28 October 2011 The warning could hardly be blunter the source more reputable or the cause more laudable. Reform the Commonwealth or face a continuing decline to irrelevance ten eminent politicians have told Commonwealth leaders who gather in Perth this week October 2830 for their biennial summit. At the core of a radical report surely as important as any in the history of the association but in danger of being buried by bureaucrats is a proposal that could give new hope to an ailing association. The study commissioned by the Commonwealth at the last summit in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009 calls for the creation of the office of a Commonwealth commissioner for human rights who would have the authority to investigate member states who regularly and persistently breach the principles. This is not the only proposal put forward. The doc... 2011-10-28 14:46:42 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#105592 Has the Commonwealth shot itself in the foot By Commonwealth Association member Catherine Sebastian 28 October 2011 Did the Eminent Persons Group report warrant such a hesitant approach Can Commonwealth Association members have sight of it to come to our own decision We all must agree that the need for change is a given in fact now vital to the Commonwealths future as an association representing over 50 countries large and small economically viable and working towards economic independence. At this crucial time to signal which is what this looks like to me fear of change or even indecision will lead most people even our staunchest allies to perhaps take the view that we have no stomach for the tough times ahead or indeed the challenges associated with the push for improvement preparation for the everevolving world around us. What does this say about our member countries Is this signalling that the Commonwealth is illprepared for a future where decisions challenging deci... 2011-10-28 14:40:45 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#105543 A PR disaster looms as that report is passed around furtively From Stuart Mole Our Man in Perth 27 October 2011 The Commonwealth Business Forum has come and gone and the Commonwealth Peoples Forum concluded this afternoon 27 October. The Queen arrived yesterday out of gloomy skies but to a warm welcome and made her way to her lodgings at Government House Her Majesty is seen left earlier in Melbourne. Despite occasional showers Perth is looking its best. The security presence is heavy but of benign appearance. Despite the inevitable disruption to the citys normal life the most isolated capital in the world seems to be pleased to have the world on its doorstep if only for a week. The report which cannot be quoted Members of the Eminent Persons Group seem to be less pleased with the recent turn of events. After deciding upon a highly open and consultative approach to their work the EPG concluded and adopted their final report well in advance of the CHOGM. Their ... 2011-10-27 18:46:15 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#105359 Towards CHOGM 2011 ah the memories From Stuart Mole en route to Perth Australia 23 October 2011 I squeezed my suitcase closed reflecting ruefully that it was the presence of too many documents and papers that was once more pushing me into an excess baggage charge. It is ten years since I last journeyed to Australia for a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting CHOGM. In 2001 the world was still reeling from the horror of the attacks of 11 September on the USA. The future looked dangerously unpredictable. Few Commonwealth leaders found the prospect of air travel particularly appealing much less leaving their countries for Brisbane at a time of uncertainty and danger. Which I thought was a mistake. It seemed to me then that the imminent summit presented a global forum like the Commonwealth with a particular opportunity to condemn terrorism renew its belief in justice and peace and affirm human solidarity. But then I dont recall anyone asking my opinion. Nevert... 2011-10-25 10:41:18 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#54719 Who REALLY put Zimbabwe back on the Commonwealth agenda The Commonwealth Association and other organisations have been struggling since 2003 to put Zimbabwe back on the official Commonwealth agenda. The attitude has ranged from the handsoff its not a member country anymore to the backseat were waiting for a lead from Zimbabwes neighbours. The issue was deemed that sensitive. Meanwhile the people of Zimbabwe suffered rampant inflation up to a million per cent at one time unemployment food shortages deteriorating health and in their thousands have left for South Africa Botswana and further afield in search of jobs and sanctuary. Unfortunately Commonwealth silence on the matter was interpreted in some quarters including in Zimbabwe as indifference. In an attempt to highlight the Zimbabwe peoples plight and force the issue on to the table the Association and the Royal Commonwealth Society joined forces at CHOGM 2007 bringing then Opposition leader now Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to ... 2009-12-18 11:51:58 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#54714 Back to Square One at the Secretariat Veteran Secretariat watchers may be pleased to know that history DOES repeat itself. Seventeen years since the departure of the last Assistant SecretariesGeneral it looks as if this post will be revived in 2010. Commonwealth SecretaryGeneral Kamalesh Sharma had been pressing for the last year or so for a third Deputy position to be restored whispers have it that he was hoping to tap a then newlydeparted Director for the job but in the end Governments only gave him the nod for an Assistant SecretaryGeneral. Unfortunately they declined to give any extra money to go with it. Funds for this position will have to be taken fom other divisional budgets and the cries of woe are already emanating from Marlborough House. The ASG post as it was known in the acronymstrewn jargon of the Secretariat was created as a means of enabling the SecretaryGeneral to appoint someone to a very senior position in the Secretariat. At the time the posts of DSGs were filled... 2009-12-18 10:20:03 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#53583 Time to bring Ireland back into the fold Former Commonwealth SecretaryGeneral Shridath Ramphal challenged a group of prominent civil society leaders last night in Port of Spain when he said it was time to engage with the Republic of Ireland with the view to bringing that country back into the Commonwealth. In a thoughtful address to mark the centenary of the Round Table the worlds oldest journal devoted to international affairs he set out the historical background to Irelands withdrawal in 1949 just before the London Declaration which laid the foundation for the modern Commonwealth was agreed. This Declaration which came about because of the thorny issue of allegiance to the British Crown removed that requirement by naming the British Sovereign Head of the Commonwealth. It facilitated the entry of India which had become a republic and led to the current situation where the majority of member states are now republics. Over the years successive SecretariesGeneral have had informal dis... 2009-11-28 21:23:42 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#53579 Marching along as one 28 Nov 2009The NonCommonwealth Three came and apparently swept all before them. Twentyfour hours after a firstever CHOGM session with the UN SecretaryGeneral French president and Danish Prime Minister Commonwealth Heads of Government issued the Port of Spain Climate Change Consensus The Commonwealth Climate Change Declaration and if that isnt a mouthful enough it carries a further subhead The Challenge of Our Time. Essentially the heads have pledged to work for a comprehensively substantial and operationally binding agreement agreement at the global summit on climate change in Copenhagen on 1718 December leading they emphasised towards a fully legally binding outcome no later than 2010. And how are any such operrations to be paid for The Heads recognised the need for an early start to the provision for financial resources especially taking up British Prime Minister Gordon Browns plan for a Fast Start Fund constituting grant funding. They therefore welcomed th... 2009-11-28 19:47:26 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#53574 Check whether your head turned up 28 Nov 2009Four Commonwealth countries are not attending the current CHOGM in Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago. They are Dominica and Solomin Islands Fiji which was supended from membership earlier this year and Nauru which is in arrears and therefore ineligible to attend. The 32 countires which are represented by Heads of Government Antigua and Barbuda Australia The Bahamas Bangladesh Barbados Belize Canada Cyprus Ghana Grenada Guyana India Jamaica Kenya Malaysia Maldives Malta Mauritius New Zealand Papua New Guinea St Kitts and Nevis St Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa Singapore South Africa Swaziland Tanzania Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Uganda United Kingdom Vanuatu. The 6 countries represented at the level of VicePresident Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister and who are not Heads of Govenrment Cameroon Lesotho Seychelles Sierra Leone Sri Lanka Zambia. The 11 countries represented by Foreign Ministers or senior representatives Botswa... 2009-11-28 19:23:28 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#53540 Is Mauritius the next CHOGM host 27 Nov 2009Journalists from the lovely island of Mauritius are whispering that their country has put in a bid to become the hosts for the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. If successful it would be the first time one of the Indian Ocean island states acted as hosts. Sri Lanka offered itself as host at the 2007 CHOGM but at that time embroiled as it was with internal conflict the offer was received formally rather than enthusiastcally as a noted item which must the bureaucrats equivalent of throwing cold water on an idea. We are not sure whether Sri Lanka will renew the offer and the jungle drums have also been beating out Indias name and even Australias Perth. We should know by Sunday 29 Nov. 2009-11-28 02:31:48 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#53539 In a rancorous mood 27 Nov 2009A little birdie tells us that Commonwealth Foreign Ministers were in a right old rancorous mood when they sat down to view drafts of various statements put before them in Port of Spain yesterday. The word is that first they felt that a draft on climate change was being pushed on them by the meetings chair the minister from Trinidad and Tobago. Later they felt that their requests for clarification of the status of suspended member Fiji were not being answered and another uproar ensued. We understand that the meeting went on until the wee hours of the morning which cannot have made the ministers tempers any better. Unknown to them there have been at least a couple of gatecrashers to the meeting. Obviously security at the Hilton Hotel was not as tight as had been hoped. The Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit Director sat in on the meeting for a few minutes before she was discovered and shown the door. However another civil society representative sat with a d... 2009-11-28 02:04:50 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#53526 Stunning but where are the Heads 17 Nov 2009The Commonwealth summit got off to a visually stunning start today see left which has not hidden the gaps in the ranks of Heads of Government present. Whether from embarrassment or not neither the Commonwealth Secretariat nor the host government had figures to hand out five hours after the curtain had come down on the Opening Ceremony. Canny counting as the delegations were announced on stage revealed there were as few as 32 Heads of Government though there were whispers that a couple of latecomers would be jetting in later in the day. This has to be one of the lowest numbers on record. Worse of 19 African member countries only 7 had Heads of Government leading their delegations. Host Prime Minister Patrick Manning of Trinidad and Tobago used his opening speech to make a joke of threatening the Tanzanian President with dire consequences if he did not turn up but it was clear that many Heads of Government stayed away. This might be down ... 2009-11-27 21:52:38 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#53308 First of the scholars Talk about coincidences Commonwealth Association member Mark Robinson on his way to CHOGM stopped off for a couple of days in lovely Tobago and stayed on someones recomemndation at the house of a semiretired Harvard University professor. It turns ou that the professor is Hollis Lynch who was in the first batch of scholars in the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Programme CSFP now in its 40th year. Even after all these years Lynch who is Tobagan remains full of praise for the contribution CSFP has made to scholars all over the Commonwealth and to the Commonwealth for its comitment to international dialogue. The CSFP has of course been rocked by the withdrawal from its funding of GBP2 million by the UKs Foreign and Commonwealth Office. At the time Commonwealth Association members responded handsomely by siging a petition against the decision. 2009-11-24 14:17:26 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#53304 Commonwealth democracy credentials shaken 24 Nov 2009The Commonwealths democracy credentials were taken by the scruff of the neck and severely shaken yesterday by a report Democracy in the Commonwealth which was simultaneously launched in London and Port of Spain Trinidad. Authored by 3 electoral and human rights notables and backed by the Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen who wrote the foreword the 100page report puts a failing mark on the associations current watchdog role. The report can be found by clicking on the link here . Among the recommendations1. That the Commonwealth be mandated to automatically observe any member states elections instead of waiting to be invited2. That regular democratic health checks be made on member states it has been suggested that civil society could undertake this 3. That the watchdog body CMAG the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group is no vigilant or tough enough when serious and persistent violations of democracy and good governance are brought be... 2009-11-24 13:49:34 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#53081 UN SG Sarkozy and Danish PM for CHOGM Extraordinary news filtering out of Port of Spain that UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Kimoon French President Nicholas Sarkozy and Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen might attend CHOGM. And not just as Special Guests to warm the plush seats of the new Conference Centre off the Savannah There are whispers that they may take a more active part in lobbying for suppport for key issues at next months world summit on climate change in Copenhagen. CHOGM purists may have a heart attack over that one as their presence could put some of the Commonwealth leaders used to their exclusive 72 hours in the limelight in the shade. At one time there was even wild talk that US President Obama and Brazilian President Lula as well as other G20 leaders would be on Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Mannings invitation list that is G20 leaders other than the Commonwealths own Gordon Brown UK Manmohan Singh India Stephen Harper Canada and Kevin Rudd Austra... 2009-11-22 13:02:04 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#53056 That Robinson Crusoe feeling Jargon on national youth policy has been filled with the mindnumbing word mainstreaming in recent years. So its a little surprising to find that the Commonwealth Youth Forum 2009 has been shunted out to the tiny but picturesque island of Tobago. Why the relative but splendid isolation for tomorrows generation away from the mainstream and on one of the Caribbeans loveliest tourist islands One would have thought that a spell on Trinidad itself witnessing the battle against the mainly South American drug cartels who have induced the rise in killings and robberies on some pretty mean streets after dark would provide a more suitable mainstream ambience. Its called lifes lessons. Nevertheless to ensure that the darlings of the next generation do not completely get carried away with that Robinson Crusoe feeling lots of serious adults in suits came for the colourful opening of the Forum today Saturday 21 November. The Forums theme Invest in Youth Sustain the ... 2009-11-22 01:37:04 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#52918 The SGs a tease SecretraryGeneral Kamalesh Sharma is getting a reputation as a tease. At 9 Novembers media conference in London he trailed interesting ideas in his trademark managementspeak e.g. tipping point organisation with modest financial means but unlimited intellectual capacity mixed with creative phraseology exactly what are environment good offices. Hes putting before Heads of Government at CHOGM his idea for a Partnership Portal an ITbased and we hear Tatadriven web site which will put potential partners in direct touch with each other. The mind boggles at this 21st Century datingtype agency which will range over the Commonwealths 2 billion people tangling them in miles of fibre optics. He called in a transactional dimension. Sharma is also proposing to gather an everything pertaining to mainstreaming of youth in national policy in one rich and comprehensive resource probably linked to said Portal above as its supposed to help policy makers. The Secretariat als... 2009-11-20 02:16:42 http://www.comassoc.org/page13.htm#38032 Is this the end of the era of Call me Don as the fourth Commonwealth SecretaryGeneral 20002008 the laid back informal Don McKinnon of New Zaland was wont to say For bang on time for Commonwealth Day 2009 almost a year after he stepped down from office McKinnon has been appointed as Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order by The Queen. Awards in the Royal Victorian Order are made personally by The Queen for services to the sovereign. Surely it will have to be Sir Donald from now except when hes in New Zealand where theyre not keen on standing on ceremony Sir Don somehow does not have the same ring 2009-3-11 16:47:18