Commonwealth chief hails subtle influence to mark day

LONDON – Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon insisted the organisation has a crucial role to play in bolstering democracy and development across the globe, as members mark Commonwealth Day yesterday.

McKinnon said that the Commonwealth was using its shared language, institutions and history to push through important changes that would improve the lives of its two billion people. Established in 1926 and reformed in 1949, the Commonwealth of Nations is a successor to the British Empire and brings together some 53 widely diverse nations – around a third of the world’s countries and a quarter of its population.The Commonwealth does not have the military ties of Nato or the political and economic bonds of the European Union to lock its members together.But McKinnon said the organisation instead drew strength from being a voluntary grouping of states worldwide tackling current issues concerning its members.”You must always be relevant to your membership to survive as an international organisation,” he told AFP at the Commonwealth’s Marlborough House headquarters in London.”No one’s interested in what you did yesterday; people want to know what you’re going to do today and tomorrow.”This is what our prime ministers want us to do; let’s get on and do it.Through the Commonwealth linkages we can advance countries’ external relationships in a way which no other organisation can do.Democracy, human rights, social and economic development are the focuses now.In five years’ time, we might find that climate change is dominating everything,” McKinnon said.He added: “We are the only international organisation that has the capacity to expel or suspend a member.When we do suspend, countries feel very aggrieved and work very hard to get back in.”That to me is very relevant to our existing membership because they know they belong to an organisation which doesn’t allow those who breach the principles to stay there.”Rather than see its importance wane as memories of Britain’s colonial past dim, McKinnon, 68, a former deputy prime minister and foreign minister of New Zealand, said the organisation’s power and influence was quietly growing.”You can be a force for good.We were the ones that began the debt write-off that started in the 1990s – we have a pretty good record of starting things that then get picked up by the rest of the international community,” he said.Nampa-AFPEstablished in 1926 and reformed in 1949, the Commonwealth of Nations is a successor to the British Empire and brings together some 53 widely diverse nations – around a third of the world’s countries and a quarter of its population.The Commonwealth does not have the military ties of Nato or the political and economic bonds of the European Union to lock its members together.But McKinnon said the organisation instead drew strength from being a voluntary grouping of states worldwide tackling current issues concerning its members.”You must always be relevant to your membership to survive as an international organisation,” he told AFP at the Commonwealth’s Marlborough House headquarters in London.”No one’s interested in what you did yesterday; people want to know what you’re going to do today and tomorrow.”This is what our prime ministers want us to do; let’s get on and do it.Through the Commonwealth linkages we can advance countries’ external relationships in a way which no other organisation can do.Democracy, human rights, social and economic development are the focuses now.In five years’ time, we might find that climate change is dominating everything,” McKinnon said.He added: “We are the only international organisation that has the capacity to expel or suspend a member.When we do suspend, countries feel very aggrieved and work very hard to get back in.”That to me is very relevant to our existing membership because they know they belong to an organisation which doesn’t allow those who breach the principles to stay there.”Rather than see its importance wane as memories of Britain’s colonial past dim, McKinnon, 68, a former deputy prime minister and foreign minister of New Zealand, said the organisation’s power and influence was quietly growing.”You can be a force for good.We were the ones that began the debt write-off that started in the 1990s – we have a pretty good record of starting things that then get picked up by the rest of the international community,” he said.Nampa-AFP