Sri Lanka’s diplomatic triumph at CHOGM

Cabinet paper submitted by External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris :

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to Perth, Australia for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2011

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) takes place on a biennial basis as a forum for consultations at Summit level of the Commonwealth, on matters pertaining to the Organization and global issues of interest. President Mahinda Rajapaksa led Sri Lanka’s delegation to CHOGM 2011 which was held in Perth, Australia from October 28-30, 2011. The CHOGM process comprises meetings of the Committee of the Whole (COW) which was held from October 24-25, 2011 at the level of Senior Officials and the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held from October 26-27, 2011 to which I led the delegation.

It may be recalled that at the meeting in 2009 held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, the Heads of Government accepted the President of Sri Lanka’s offer to host CHOGM 2013. Since during the run up to CHOGM 2011, there had been a tenacious mounting campaign against Sri Lanka’s hosting of CHOGM, much of our orientation towards the recently concluded CHOGM, was therefore to safeguard the acceptance of the country as the venue for 2013. This campaign has been strongest in the UK, Australia and Canada, culminating in the Canadian Prime Minister stating that he would not attend CHOGM 2013 in Sri Lanka if the human rights situation has not improved.

Commonwealth process

Australia’s approach was seemingly to assist Sri Lanka as they envisaged reference by some countries to the situation in Sri Lanka. As stated by Australia in order to have a smooth conduct of CHOGM sought to have Sri Lanka agree to make a statement on the post-conflict phase developments, during the pre-CHOGM Foreign Ministers’ meeting. Expectedly, Sri Lanka vehemently opposed to taking such action as it was not the proper forum for such a briefing, and this would only lead to the politicization of the Commonwealth process. Further, it could not be discounted that undertaking to brief the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers at its meeting, could also formalize the issue on the Agenda and thereby internationalize Sri Lanka’s domestic process.

The first indication of a country seeking to bring attention on Sri Lanka came to the fore in the pre-CHOGM process with Canada, seeking to change the wording in the original draft Communique on the issue of the venue for 2013. At the COW meeting, the Canadian delegate proposed to change the word ‘reaffirming’ the decision of Sri Lanka hosting 2013 to ‘recalling’. The delegation of Sri Lanka intervened on the basis that accepted language in past instances has been the reaffirmation of similar decisions. Hence, the original position in the draft communique was maintained.

Human rights

At the pre-CHOGM Foreign Ministers’ meeting, Canada yet again sought to raise the human rights issues in Sri Lanka, by seeking to criticize the country on its human rights record. A protest was recorded by me that the Commonwealth being an inappropriate forum for a discussion of this nature, and that domestic issues cannot be taken up in this manner. Also, if there were any interested delegations who wish to, they could approach the Sri Lanka delegation bilaterally. Having sensitized and lobbied likeminded Member Nations of the Commonwealth with regard to the moves afoot on Sri Lanka prior to Canada’s intervention resulted in 15 countries endorsing the position articulated by me.

The Chair of the meeting, therefore, declared that he would not take the issue any further and thereby, there was no scope for elaboration. It was truly momentous to have such support being expressed.

This clear division of the Commonwealth as demonstrated by the support Sri Lanka received, I believe, led to the Canadian Prime Minister assuring the President, that the issue will not be taken up by them for discussion at the Heads of Government/State Level meetings. The Canadian Foreign Minister alluded to the same with me subsequently. The Canadian Prime Minister, in conversation with the President, had been sensitized to the situation on ground. Later, during the final Executive Session, the President invited the Heads of State and their delegations for CHOGM 2013 to Sri Lanka, which was followed by a visual presentation of the Conference facilities and the variety of facets the country has to offer.

Foreign Ministers

Sri Lanka’s achievements in the context of the current CHOGM include, during the preparatory stage, the acceptance of Sri Lanka’s suggested three additional elements to the communique, viz, terrorism, maritime piracy and migration. In fact, part of the formulation of the contents in the terrorism section of the communique bringing in terrorists and their front organizations and also their transnational complexion was provided by Sri Lanka.

The Eminent Persons Group (EPG) Report which was presented to the Heads of Government meeting was fraught with a number of unacceptable proposals, primarily providing for a Commonwealth Charter and establishing a new post by appointing a Commissioner for Democracy, Rule of Law, and Human Rights. Since these areas in the EPG Report would be detrimental to us due to their intrusive nature, Sri Lanka was one of the countries in the fore-front lobbying against these issues, which have now been committed to a further examination process. In this regard too, Sri Lanka’s proposal to establish a Task Force at the Ministerial level for the formulation of the Charter was accepted as part of the examination process in this regard. Further, this Task Force has also been charged with analyzing and providing detailed advice to Foreign Ministers at their September 2012 meeting, on 43 of the EPG recommendations which are deemed to be controversial. From the 106 recommendations of the EPG, 30 were adopted and an additional 12 accepted subject to the consideration of financial implications.

On the margins of the CHOGM, the President participated at the Business Forum and delivered the key note address at the session on ‘Indian Ocean and the Pacific Rim: Fast Growing Markets’. He noted the economic stability and growth potential of Asia and the Pacific regions and highlighted the economic growth prospects in Sri Lanka. An observation was also made on the fact that economies operate on the bedrock of confidence, and advanced economies need to respond to the growing crises quickly and collectively. It was a magnificent showcasing of Sri Lanka.

Business forum

The President was also invited to address the Sports Breakfast hosted by the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, where he spoke on sports as a unifier in the Commonwealth, and also included a well crafted pitch with regard to Sri Lanka’s bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Both statements were well received demonstrated by the observations expressed by participants and the wide reportage in the foreign media. The Commonwealth Business Council also organized a breakout session at the Business Forum on ‘Investing in Sri Lanka’ which was addressed by the Governor of the Central Bank and myself. Judging from the interactive segment of this session, it is evident that there is much interest in seeking to forge economic links with Sri Lanka.

The CHOGM also presented an opportunity to conduct bilateral meetings both formally and informally as ‘pull-asides’, with the counterparts of the President and myself. In this regard, the President met with Prime Ministers of Australia, Singapore, Mauritius and Bangladesh, and also had brief pull-aside discussions with a number of Heads of State or their representatives which included India, Pakistan, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Malaysia and Ghana. During these engagements, there was an exchange of views regarding Sri Lanka’s progress on post conflict issues and economic development.

Channel 4

I met with the Foreign Ministers of Australia and Botswana, together with brief ‘pull-asides’ with a number of my colleagues from other Commonwealth States. These meetings were primarily utilized to lobby Sri Lanka’s position in the context of the possible negative moves by a part of the Commonwealth, which include Australia, Canada, UK and New Zealand. Sri Lanka’s position was well accepted by those whom were met and thereby support was forthcoming.

A press conference with the international media was conducted by me, rounding off Sri Lanka’s participation at GHOGM 2011. My opening remarks covered Sri Lanka’s contribution to the substantive work of CHOGM 2011, the challenges faced during our participation in that process and also in the run up to it, and post conflict developments in Sri Lanka. The media representatives included the producer of the Channel 4 programme ‘Killing Fields’. From the line of questioning by these media representatives, it was evident that they were misinformed and were pawns of false propaganda. The questions were exhausted by me. They were not hostile, and this exchange proved to be constructive.

On the bilateral front with Australia, legal action against the President and Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Australia, which had been initiated by an Australian national who later confessed to be an LTTE sympathizer, also came to naught with the Attorney-General refusing to process the warrant any further.

In conclusion, I wish to state that the obstacles and challenges which were before the delegation in the run up to CHOGM 2011 were well circumvented by the initiatives taken at the highest level of the Sri Lanka delegation. The EPG Report and Sri Lanka dominated the media lines, and while the outcome on the Report was abysmal, Sri Lanka rose above to an unqualified triumph in diplomacy.