[photo: Commonwealth Secretariat]
[Derek McDougall is a member of the Round Table’s International Advisory Board and contributing his Samoa Diary series during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa.]
(With apologies to T.S. Eliot).
Politically the last day of CHOGM is the most significant. This is when the leaders meet to finalise the communique and issue a leaders’ statement. On this occasion they also had the task of choosing the new Secretary-General.
For those attending as civil society representatives (such as myself) the day is structured differently. There is a special foreign ministers’ round table with civil society (through the ‘Accredited Organisations’) and ‘Associated Organisations’ and ‘Commonwealth Intergovernmental Organisations’ (to use Commonwealth terminology).
On the way to the round table I had a glimpse of pomp and ceremony when we were stopped to allow the convoy for the King of Eswatini to pass en route to the Leaders’ Meeting. My Africanist colleague informed me that the King has multiple wives (approaching twenty), making his selection through the annual reed dance ceremony. He rules as an absolute monarch, not quite consistent with the Commonwealth Charter. He presumably was off to support the Lesotho candidate for Secretary-General (Senator Joshua Setipa).
The round table was a reminder of the ‘two Commonwealths’ approach, well formulated by Timothy Shaw. There is a vibrant Commonwealth civil society, again evident in the round table. The occasion was very well planned under the guiding hand of Dr Anne Gallagher, Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation (the organization linked to the Secretariat to promote Commonwealth civil society). Dr Gallagher hosted the first session with civil society, followed by Professor Sue Onslow (the incoming editor of The Round Table) for the second session with the Associated Organisations. The general format was to have short statements and questions from civil society representatives followed by responses from ministers or other government representatives. In the second session there were initial statements from representatives from three organisations (Commonwealth Local Government Forum, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association) before the Q & A. Unfortunately, a power outage abruptly ended the second session, and we were unable to have the third session with the intergovernmental organisations (scheduled presentations were from the CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning, the Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation, and the Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat).
A lot of the themes covered in this session are evident in the booklet issued by the Commonwealth Foundation entitled What do the people of the Commonwealth need in 2024? A message to Heads of Government, the outcome of an online consultation with 3000 civil society activists and experts from across the Commonwealth. These themes also featured in the People’s Forum earlier in the week, as well as in the Women’s Forum and Youth Forum. The booklet has eight recommendations. The first four to the Commonwealth are: the protection of civic space and free expression, civil society involvement in Commonwealth processes, action on climate change, resilient and accessible health systems. The second four are to Commonwealth governments: protection of civic space, better public scrutiny of legislation, greater capital investment in the public realm, and net zero emissions by 2050.
Elaborating on some of the themes, the first session raised issues concerning such matters as the inclusion of people with disabilities in decision making, health justice (with the information minister from Ghana describing a new medical drone delivery system being deployed in that country to improve access), and climate action. On the latter the Tongan minister for energy/climate highlighted the expense of transitioning to renewables, calling for Commonwealth support for access to finance. A Tuvalu minister responded to a ‘Dorothy Dixer’ (to use the Australian term) from a Samoan activist about how to support Tuvalu’s climate leadership: moral leadership and political courage were needed, predicting 3.7 to 5.4 (increased temperature) if stronger action were not taken.
After hearing the statements from the three organisations in the second session, Sue Onslow said that the issue for the dialogue was about how to improve the relationship between the Associated Organisations and both civil society and governments. A Botswanan member of the Commonwealth Secretariat raised issues about improving engagement with parliamentary organisations and taking action on disability rights.
Although the meeting is billed as a round table with foreign ministers, there were very few present. There was a brief appearance (non-speaking) by Winston Peters (New Zealand). Both Dr Mamadou Tangara (The Gambia) and (Lord) Ray Collins from the United Kingdom (Parliamentary Undersecretary of State (Africa), including also the Commonwealth, the United Nations and human rights) were there. Several countries had other ministers (not foreign ministers) attending or public servants (Australia and Canada were among the latter, with a strong statement from the Canadian (Department of Global Affairs) on advancing human rights, but nothing from the Australians).
Dr Tangara (one of the three candidates) brought us news that Shirley Botchwey (foreign minister of Ghana) was to be the new Secretary-General. Lord Collins made a forceful statement on human rights, also arguing that democracy was about supporting and engaging populations; the Commonwealth should provide an example.
At the end of the session, I was left wondering how the perspectives coming from Commonwealth civil society might play out with Commonwealth governments and the Commonwealth itself. It is all part of a process to try to influence the direction of those governments and the Commonwealth. The round table, building on all the other input from Commonwealth civil society, contributes to that process. As Max Weber said, ‘Politics is a strong and slow boring of hard boards. It takes both passion and perspective.’
News about the communique and leaders’ statement came later in the day, warranting separate discussion.
My experience throughout the six days of CHOGM has been primarily with the civil society Commonwealth. On Wednesday I was able to observe the Ministerial Meeting on Small States, and of course there was the most impressive (indeed moving at times) opening on Friday. Clearly the civil society Commonwealth is trying to have an influence on the governmental Commonwealth, with the outcome of the Leaders’ Meeting on Saturday indicating the extent of that influence. Weber’s dictum remains relevant.
Derek McDougall is Professorial Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne.
