The Commonwealth remains an inconsequential talking shop, and this is why we can’t give it priority with our limited resources. However, we’ve noticed the Commonwealth Ministerial Group meeting that took place earlier this month on March 7th due to the fact that it was chaired by Malta’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg. The Commonwealth Foreign Ministers issued a statement following the meeting that can be read here. They drew their concerns about ongoing threats to democracy and the rule-of-law and highlighted their support for democratic institutions.
The statement comes in the backdrop of deteriorating political and democratic conditions in several Commonwealth countries including Tanzania, Cameroon, and Uganda.
Sudan is not a member of the Commonwealth but as an organisation with an overwhelming presence of African countries, and with Sudan itself also being a previous British colony, it remains the elephant in the room.
Above all, the representatives who signed the statement are also themselves responsible for democratic backsliding at home in their countries such as Zambia’s Foreign Minister Mulambo Hamakuni Haimbe (6th person from the left of the back-row). Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema introduced a law in 2021 called the 2021 Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act which is currently being used to harass and threaten journalists. Malaysia also a signatory to the statement is itself very popular for jailing and detaining journalists.
The Commonwealth group serves to bring foreign leaders and representatives together and this enables more bilateral and collective discussions about relevant matters such as trade but as an international organisation, the Commonwealth remains very ineffective and irrelevant.
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