MEETING POINT

Contrary to speculation in various sections of the local media that the CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) will not be held in Colombo, this leading article can reasonably speculate that the summit will indeed take place in this city later this year.

There have been no concrete moves that indicate anything to the contrary; there has however been an effort by Canada to place Sri Lanka on the CMAG agenda, but that is hardly relevant considering that the critical mass within the Commonwealth is not remotely available to prevent Sri Lanka from hosting the summit.

The immediate past host nation Australia for instance has been totally nonplussed by the alarmist nature of the Canadian lobby, and the Australians from the time PM Julia Gillard struck up a good rapport with President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Perth in 2010, have been readily for passing the baton to Sri Lanka, despite the noise and static of some whining that has emanated from the stifling cold climes of the North American continent.

This brings us to the point that all the issues that the media keeps screaming on about with relevance to CHOGM and the alleged fact that the venue lies in the balance in 2013, are largely irrelevant to ‘reconsidering’ Colombo as a venue, when Colombo’s host status is already settled fact. In short, this is a media storm in the teacup.

On the main issue the media keeps getting excited over, Sri Lanka went ahead with the impeachment of the Chief Justice, because there was the educated conclusion reached among the policy establishment, that none of the core values of the Commonwealth were being transgressed by the constitutionally carried out impeachment process. Do the incessantly loud media pundits think that Sri Lanka would have walked into a situation in which it faces a stinging rebuke, if there was reasonable evidence to think that such an outcome is possible?

Obviously, the policymakers were cool and unfazed by this issue, because it was evident that anybody making an allegation about not sticking to the core Commonwealth values was being disingenuous. The impeachment was constitutional. The international Commission of Jurists has said so. To use the commonly used expression on the screaming detractors, therefore, ‘guys, get over it.’

But, if by some extremely unlikely chance the Canada led boycott lobby succeeds in preventing Colombo from hosting CHOGM, as a columnist in a weekly newspaper has pointed out on Sunday, this would not be an issue for Sri Lankans to lose much sleep over.

To be kind and gentle about it, the Commonwealth is essentially about reliving nostalgia for a bygone era than anything else, and in real terms the organization is a bit of an anachronism. Sometime it feels as if it is a badge of honour of sorts to be different from the rest of the membership of the Commonwealth, because countries have come a very long way since they were colonies, and not being in lockstep with some of the crotchety-set of the Commonwealth may mean that nations whose leaderships think for themselves are doing a great job of being progressive and independent!

The weekly columnist referred to, has gone to the extent of saying that the Commonwealth is a ‘bit of a joke’. We who in deference to Sri Lanka’s host status etc., who would not want to go so far however, would say that, to put it mildly, nothing turns on any drastic negative reactions on the part of the Commonwealth even if they were forthcoming.

It is better therefore for the screamers in the local media to save their breath for something else. There are much more worthy causes that the media can focus on such as problems in schooling etc, that have been highlighted by the recent media story about an eight year old being taken to court for stealing eight coconuts to fund the school colour-washing project. CHOGM will look after itself, and as the outgoing chairperson of CHOGM would have no doubt said, no worries on that count. By any reckoning, Sri Lankans and the rest of the world have a lot more they can gainfully focus their attention on, other than the Heads of State meeting of a convivial bunch of friendly nations.