Reinventing the ‘Common Weal’

In a sense, this year’s CHOGM meeting is the one that no one else really wanted. Originally scheduled to be held in Mauritius, this November’s Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting – the 24th since the biennial event first took place in Singapore in 1971 – was briefly left homeless when the Indian Ocean island state abruptly withdrew its offer in 2013 to host the event.

In that decision alone, many of the questions concerning the relevance of the Commonwealth in the 21st century could be discerned. Originally founded in 1949 (though its inception can be traced to the 1880s), the declared purpose of this voluntary association of former British dependencies was to rationalise the legacy of Colonialism, with a view to fostering international dialogue among ethnically diverse countries sharing broadly similar historical and cultural characteristics.

But in the 70 years since its official birth, the Commonwealth has struggled to assert its relevance in a fast-changing world. Before leaving the organisation in the lurch regarding this year’s summit, Mauritius had already boycotted the 2013 CHOGM meeting in Colombo due to a “total lack of accountability” by the government of Sri Lanka regarding human rights abuses. 

Failure to rein in human rights abuses among members is a charge frequently laid at the Commonwealth’s door; though the same Sri Lanka meeting was poorly attended for other reasons, too. 

The conspicuous absence of several of the more affluent Commonwealth countries gave rise to criticism that the organisation was becoming polarised, with the economic and social differences between individual member countries growing too wide to ever bridge. 

David Concar, the British Foreign Office’s envoy to the Commonwealth, admitted in a meeting with Maltese journalists this week that the 2013 CHOGM had cemented the perception of a North/South (read: “rich/poor”) divide.

It is in part for this reason that the 2015 CHOGM meeting is regarded – at least, among Commonwealth insiders – as a last-ditch opportunity to breathe new life into an ailing international organisation.

Malta’s moment

It was against this uncertain backdrop that Malta’s Prime Minister offered to host the 2015 CHOGM: an offer that was met with a standing ovation in Colombo. Clearly, there is one remaining Commonwealth member state that still has faith in the organisation’s potential... even if Joseph Muscat himself also warned that the Commonwealth must reinvent itself if it is to survive.

“Malta attaches great importance to the Commonwealth and we believe that this Heads of Government meeting will be a watershed event in providing an opportunity for Commonwealth leaders to discuss important issues that impinge on the lives of all Commonwealth citizens,” he said during a lecture at the London School of economics in July last year: in which he also likened the Commonwealth to a sick patient in need of medicine. 

“My take is that the Commonwealth should not retire, but should decide what it wants to be. It can opt to remain as it is and sink in total irrelevance within the next decade or so, or have the courage to make changes, by starting to tackle them at least in piecemeal fashion.”

What’s in it for Malta?

So was Muscat’s offer to host the 2015 CHOGM motivated exclusively by altruistic concerns for the future of the Commonwealth? Perhaps. But there are other possible perks and advantages that might have also interested the Maltese Prime Minister. 

Phyllis Muscat, head of the CHOGM Malta taskforce, points out that ‘CHOGM’ – despite the name – is more than just a meeting for heads of 53 mostly former British colonies scattered about the globe. Equal floor time is given to a wide variety of other discussion fora… the most anticipated of which is arguably the Commonwealth Business Forum.

“We view this as an opportunity to strengthen existing networks, and to boost Malta’s profile as an international trade partner,” Muscat said.

These aims are reflected in the carefully chosen themes for this year’s CBF: “The Forum will highlight the role the private sector can play in helping to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals within the post 2015 development framework. In addition to the overarching themes of trade, investment, entrepreneurship and employment, sustainability is one of six priority areas of focus identified for the Forum, including financial services, infrastructure, technology, health care and tourism.” As can be seen, all the main industries on which Malta’s economy is built have somehow found a place on the programme of discussion among 53 countries across the world. 

And apart from concerns of an economic nature, CHOGM also gives Malta the opportunity to place other issues of strategic importance to the country on the same agenda for international discussion. 

The biennial event also reserves space for civil society debate. In choosing the theme for this year’s ‘People’s Forum’, the Maltese government made no secret of its intention to focus on immigration: an issue of intense relevance locally, but also in other Commonwealth countries (notably Australia, which to date has not confirmed its presence for the Malta CHOGM yet).

“Globalisation, international and intra-national migration, and the growing interconnectedness of people and cultures through technology, underpin narratives of growing societal complexity and the erosion of national values and cultures.” 

Given the failure of past efforts to secure a meaningful international discussion on immigration in other international organisations – not least, the European Union – Malta’s sudden concern with the health of the Commonwealth may also be interpreted as an investment in a future policy platform that may result in further international pressure for a common approach to this troublesome phenomenon.

This has arguably been made more urgent in the wake of recent policy decisions by Great Britain – the seat of the Commonwealth, as it were – to withdraw its participation in voluntary life-saving missions in the Mediterranean.

On a separate note, there are other, more tangible attractions also. The presence of (almost) the full Royal Family in Malta for the event – Quen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall – will almost certainly attract international media attention and boost Malta’s profile as a tourist destination. 

As confirmed by a spokesperson for the Royal family, last year’s visit by Prince William served to increase booking enquiries to Malta from the UK by 70%.

Security concerns

Such benefits must also be offset by costs; and apart from the financial costs of hosting CHOGM, recent events in North Africa and elsewhere have radically increased security concerns since Malta last hosted the summit in 2005.

David Concar admitted that security issues were a major cause for concern in the wake of the terrorist attack in Tunisia last month, though he rebuffed suggestions that the meeting should not go ahead at all. 

“Not to hold the meeting would be to give in to terrorists,” he told Maltese journalists at a press briefing in Whitehall this week. 

Separately he also confirmed that the Foreign Office was ‘looking very closely’ at security arrangements, and that the British government has offered Malta assistance in this regard. “You will however appreciate that, for obvious reasons, I cannot divulge any specific details at this time,” he added.