The Commonwealth Conversation

As Commonwealth Election Observers prepare their final report on the Presidential Election held in Sri Lanka on 26th January 2010 there is a growing interest in what they will say, and what it will mean for the Commonwealth.

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.

Hugh Craft, a senior Australian diplomat and former Director of the Political Affairs Division at the Commonwealth Secretariat, assesses the success and value of the Commonwealth

Muttiah ‘Murali’ Muralitharan is the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket history and Sri Lanka’s greatest player of all time. He is also a dedicated humanitarian and philanthropist, serving as a trustee of the Foundation of Goodness, which seeks to help Sri Lanka’s rural poor. In this exclusive interview for the Commonwealth Conversation, he talks about the power of sport to unite people and what the Commonwealth do to help Sri Lanka build a better future.

Kaye Whiteman, a writer and journalist and former Director of Information at the Commonwealth Secretariat says more needs to be done to prevent abuse of media freedoms in the Commonwealth.

The writer and journalist Kaye Whiteman has asked some provocative questions of the Commonwealth Conversation and how it will address the issue of media freedom.

The debate about what the Commonwealth should be doing on Sri Lanka is a very hot one. What do you think about it?