Rough days follow the Kampala summit

The summit in Uganda turned out to be the curtain-raiser to weeks of political upheaval in parts of Commonwealth Asia and Africa. On the eve of its opening on 23 November the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) of nine foreign ministers suspended Pakistan from the councils of the Commonwealth for a second time because President Pervez Musharraf had still not stepped down as army chief as he had three times promised the Commonwealth and the Secretary-General personally - he would do.

In fact, Musharraf did take off his uniform a few days later, but to retain its credibility the Commonwealth had to act when it did. In any case, the sacked and detained judges were not restored. The CMAG meeting proved difficult because Sri Lanka, and to a lesser extent Malaysia, was opposed to the re-suspension. Then, only days after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) came first the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and then in December the tight elections in Kenya that led to a sudden and unexpected eruption of bloodshed there.

CHOGM itself passed off well, despite months of anxiety about the controversial venue. President Yoweri Museveni does not have an altogether clean human rights or democratic record. Nine opposition leaders had been held on treason charges during the last elections and remained so even while CHOGM was held.

In terms of results it was a useful, if not groundbreaking, meeting. It marked a changing of the guard with the election of Indian diplomat Kamalesh Sharma to succeed New Zealand politician Don McKinnon as Secretary-General on 1 April. And it was notable for the launch of two important reports.

The first, Civil Paths to Peace, came from the Commonwealth Commission on Respect and Understanding, which was chaired by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. It is one of the best documents the Commonwealth has produced, dealing with the most pressing social problems of our day – group-based violence and its impact on communities – and looks at the cause of conflict and extremism.

The report recommends new forms of political participation, an emphasis on non-sectarian, non-parochial education that expands rather than reduces the reach of understanding, and greater support of young people – half the Commonwealth’s two billion citizens.

The last section sets out briefly and clearly the way in which the Commonwealth has been a major and influential international player over the last several decades – a role much underestimated in member countries and the wider world, partly because of the failure of its own public relations effort and the leaders’ reluctance and inability to articulate its achievements. This is a matter Sharma needs urgently to address when he takes over.

more...