Commonwealth admits Rwanda, lashes Fiji

TRINIDAD: Leaders of the Commonwealth admitted French-speaking Rwanda and admonished military-ruled Fiji on Sunday, as they emphasized their club’s commitment to promoting democracy and human rights.

The decisions were set out in a statement after a three-day summit in Trinidad that also threw the Commonwealth’s full weight behind climate talks soon to start in Copenhagen.

The Commonwealth, which now counts 54 members with Rwanda’s inclusion, asserted that it remained a vital and relevant institution in the 21st century, having evolved from its origins as an alliance of former British colonies, while maintaining Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as its symbolic head.

Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma and other officials stressed that the 60-year-old body had a unique role because it represented a mix of significant economic powers, such as Britain, Australia and India, as well as “small and vulnerable” nations such as the Maldives, Vanuatu and Tuvalu.

Its voice was all the more powerful because it represented those of two billion people, or a third of the planet’s population, they said.

“We should not underestimate the influence of this institution” in deciding world issues, said Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whose country is to host the next Commonwealth summit in 2011.

That heft was applied on Saturday, when the Commonwealth said it fully backed efforts to negotiate a new climate pact at the December 7-18 talks in Copenhagen.

The message was boosted by the presence of three non-Commonwealth leaders on the first day of the summit who had a stake in seeing a successful outcome in Copenhagen: Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

Port of Spain, Monday, AFP