Day: October 29, 2011

The fourth Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir seems to have won the shadow power battle with the fifth Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the sixth Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razaki on the sidelines of the Perth 2011 CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) 2011 on the Eminent Person Group’s (EPG) proposal for a Commonwealth Commissioner for Democracy, Rule of Law and Human Rights.

The latest news from the Perth 2011 CHOGM is that the Commonwealth heads of government have not only rejected the EPG’s proposal for a Commonwealth Commissioner for Democracy, Rule of Law and Human Rights, they have taken the shocking decision not to publish the EPF report on Commonwealth reforms to make it relevant and not an anachronism.

This has led to the unprecedented unanimous criticism by the seven-member EPG in Perth against the CHOGM decision.

It is good to see Abdullah, who is chairperson of the seven-member EPG, leading the EPG attack against CHOGM and issuing the warning: Continue reading “Mahathir has won the shadow power battle of three Prime Ministers on the sidelines of Perth 2011 CHOGM”

by Matthew Franklin,
chief political correspondent,
The Australian
October 29, 2011

MEMBERS of an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) advising the Commonwealth have attacked the 54-nation body for refusing to publish its report recommending ways to make the organisation more relevant.

UK representative Sir Malcolm Rifkind today said it was a “a disgrace” the report had not been released to promote debate about Commonwealth reform, while Canada’s Hugh Segal said it was apparent some nations believed silence was the best option in dealing with serious issues like human rights violations among the group’s members.

Today’s unanimous criticism by the seven-member EPG has turned the three-day CHOGM meeting on its head after Commonwealth leaders last night declared they had acted to secure the Commonwealth’s ongoing relevance.

At yesterday’s session, leaders lifted the powers of the Commonwealth ministerial action group, made up of foreign ministers of member nations, to intervene when member nations were slipping away from the observance of basic democratic principles. Continue reading “Commonwealth leaders refuse to publish EPG report”