Bonjour le Commonwealth
Posted by DannyRCS - 28/11/09 at 03:11 pm
After a fantastic opening ceremony (I hope you saw my tweets), things seem quieter at CHOGM. The leaders have gone into their ‘retreat’ (which looks just like any other big table with lots of be-suited men around it) and bilateral meetings.
The one time we were supposed to hear what was going on – at a press conference with Prime Minister Manning and the Commonwealth Secretary-General – was cancelled yesterday evening. Many people are saying that this is because leaders and officials have not reached agreement on the sensitive issues at the summit which seem to be climate change, Rwanda’s membership, and whether Sri Lanka will be hosting the next CHOGM. In fact, I hear that Rwanda’s membership was supposed to have been announced on Thursday. If President Kagame is, as rumoured, lounging incognito by a pool in Port of Spain, he will have to wait some more.
The highlight for many on Friday was the presence of France’s President Sarkozy. This is being spun as great news for the Commonwealth. I am not so sure. In his press conference, the only real reference Sarkozy made to the Commonwealth was to say how happy he was to be here. The rest of it was about climate change and French domestic matters. This has the potential to distract leaders and the media. In fact, I hear that Sarkozy met the Indian Prime Minister for lunch yesterday. That’s great but it does mean that Dr Singh has one less hour to spend with Commonwealth leaders.
I am told that there’s another press conference scheduled for today. Let’s hope they actually turn up this time. In the meantime, I am off to see what civil society says to Foreign Ministers.
Category : Director's Blog
Tags: CHOGM, France, Rwanda, Sri Lanka
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