![]() the absence of such information has led to skepticism about the Commonwealth’s commitment to its own values.” “Often the Secretary-General’s ‘good offices’ role is deployed without any public statement of concern because of the risk of compromising this behind-the-scenes activity. In a scathing chapter titled “Silence is Not an Option”, the report criticizes behind-the-scenes diplomacy between the Commonwealth Secretary-General and member states, even during the overthrows of legitimately elected governments. The Commonwealth is a consensus organization, meaning that all its leaders have to agree on any new policy. The Commonwealth, representing two billion people worldwide, is an organization comprised mainly of former British colonies - although in recent years, Rwanda and Mozambique, two nations with no connection to Britain, have become members. “Keeping the report secret clearly goes against the principle that this is a Commonwealth of the people and that we want the public to have their say, participate and express some of the views they have about some of these ideas to their governments.” ![]() “Clearly the more people who have it, the more discussion there is and the better informed our leaders will be when they meet to discuss it,” he said. Segal said in an interview late Wednesday that the report - obtained by the Citizen from sources outside the advisory group - will stimulate public discussion. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. “There has been growing criticism that the Commonwealth does not take a stand, at least in public, on violations of its values by member states, other than in the case of the unconstitutional removal of governments,” says the in-depth analysis commissioned by Commonwealth leaders two years ago. ![]() Some members of the Eminent Persons Group are said to be furious, seeing the delay as an effort to limit discussion and something symptomatic of the problems they say ail the Commonwealth. 28, the first day of the Australia summit. Time for Urgent Reform originally was scheduled for release well in advance of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth but an apparent dispute among member nations over its contents has delayed the official release until Oct. “This failure by the Commonwealth is seen as a decay that has set in to the body of the organization and one that will occasion the association’s irrelevance - if not its actual demise - unless it is promptly addressed,” says the report compiled by an 11-member Eminent Persons Group, which includes Canadian Senator Hugh Segal and former Mozambique cabinet minister Graca Michel, wife of Nelson Mandela. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.
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