CHOGM 2003: the people's Commonwealth fails to make headlines: W. David McIntyre comments on the recent meeting of Commonwealth heads of government in Abuja, Nigeria.

• Author: McIntyre, W. David
• Position: Conference Report

Abuja was a bit of a shambles' was the verdict of a veteran Commonwealth editor. But the 2003 CHOGM went ahead, with nearly a full turnout. Of the 52 countries eligible to attend, only Antigua was absent. Several successful parallel conferences took place in-the-wings. As usual, however, media coverage was one-eyed and inaccurate. Television viewers and newspaper readers could only gain the impression that the meetings were devoted to squabbles about a non-attendee (Robert Mugabe) and the problem of Zimbabwe's 'suspension'.

It was made to seem like a repeat of Coolum in 2002, when Mugabe was also absent, yet the centre of discussion. There were moves then to have Zimbabwe suspended because of his regime's record of brutality and civil rights violations. On that occasion a decision was avoided by the creation of a troika of past, present and future CHOGM chairpersons (Mbeki of South Africa, Howard of Australia, Obasanjo of Nigeria) to make a decision after Zimbabwe's upcoming elections. In the event, observers reported unfavourably on the elections, and, in the 'Marlbo-rough House Statement' of 19 March 2002, Zimbabwe was suspended-from-Commonwealth-councils. This was a lighter sentence than either suspension of membership or expulsion from the association. It is a way of ending official contact with rogue regimes without breaking contact with civil society organisations. It means exclusion from the political Commonwealth, but not from the people's Commonwealth.

The debate this time was whether the suspension-from-councils should be lifted. There were some who wanted it lifted before the Abuja CHOGM so that Mugabe could attend. Obasanjo, the host, resisted this. With Zimbabwe still absent, there were those, led by Mbeki, Chissano of Mozambique and Nujoma of Namibia, who argued that the suspension should be lifted by the CHOGM. Others, led by Tony Blair, John Howard and Helen Clark, were firm that Zimbabwe could not return to the councils until there had been an obvious return to democratic modes. Jean Chretien of Canada wanted to set a deadline for this. In an attempt to avoid devoting undue time to the issue, Obasanjo created a committee of six to resolve the matter. It included Zimbabwe's neighbours South Africa and Mozambique, Canada and Australia (from the old Commonwealth) and India and Jamaica, under the chairmanship of the Jamaican Prime Minister.

In the end, the suspension was not lifted, but a 'Chogm Statement on Zimbabwe' was issued after the Retreat, on 7 December, which included a lot of flannel about promoting national reconciliation in Zimbabwe and assisting its return to normalcy, and it provided a procedure for accepting Zimbabwe's return. The Chairperson-in-Office (Obasanjo) and the Secretary-General would 'engage with the parties concerned' and 'at an appropriate time', when the chairperson believed sufficient progress had been made, he would consult the committee of six and, if there was consensus among them, he would consult the other Commonwealth leaders on Zimbabwe's return to the councils.

Ingenious arrangement

This ingenious arrangement was immediately overtaken by events. Mugabe promptly took Zimbabwe right out of the Commonwealth. He flew ostentatiously to Geneva to address the World Summit on the Information Society, where Obasanjo also went to meet him as soon as the CHOGM was over.

The media and some of Mugabe's supporters tended to paint the dispute as a black/white split in the Commonwealth. Perhaps the most unfortunate by-product of this tension was its effect on the question of the secretary-generalship. Don McKin-non's first four-year term was due to end in 2004 and he was up for re-election. Somewhat surprisingly there was a challenger, Lakshman Kadirgamar, a former Sri Lankan diplomat and foreign minister. And the matter became linked with the Zimbabwe issue.

There were those who argued that McKinnon was too tough on Zimbabwe, too aligned with its 'old Commonwealth' critics. Others argued that he had been too lenient and had compromised himself early on by visiting Zimbabwe and talking with Mugabe. There was also speculation that the...