Patterson recalls Jamaica’s role in Commonwealth’s political and economic expansion

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda is scheduled to visit Jamaica today as chairman of the Commonwealth, an association of democratic governments that aspires to boost trade and functional cooperation among its members.

It also campaigns for attention to be given to the unique developmental challenges of small states; and helps member countries with issues of sustainability, environmental protection, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

On the eve of Rwanda’s hosting of the 26th Commonwealth heads of government meeting, CHOGM, in June, Kagame’s overseas tour takes him to the country that took an active role in the evolution of the Commonwealth of nations, including leading the work for the creation of a framework for its expansion to include the African country as the most recent addition to the 54-nation community.

Jamaica is aiming to unseat Baroness Patricia Scotland as secretary general and replace her with Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith at the June 20-25 CHOGM meeting in Rwanda.

Former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson recalls that Jamaica’s advocacy for the review of the criteria for membership to the Commonwealth, that used to be reserved for Britain and its former colonies, led to him being tasked with the chairmanship of a committee set up for that purpose by the CHOGM, held in Malta in 2005, that preceded his retirement in 2006.

“I was very surprised when the secretary general, the former foreign minister of New Zealand, Sir Don McKinnon, proposed that I be the person to lead the work of the committee on membership,” Patterson told the Financial Gleaner in an interview this week.

The committee included former president of Malta Guido de Marco; Uganda’s then deputy speaker of its parliament, Rebecca Kadaga; Baroness Valerie Amos, former leader of the UK House of Lords and ex-Cabinet member; former South African High Commissioner to the UK, Cheryl Carolus; former finance minister of India Yashwant Sinha; then Samoan diplomat and former judge of the International Criminal Court, Tuiloma Neroni Slade (Samoa); and Canadian lawyer and lobbyist Olivia MacAngus.

“Our terms of reference were simple: what was the criteria to be established for membership in the Commonwealth? Among the recommendations was that, having met the criteria of democratic governance and the rule of law, etc, countries that were part of regional arrangements whose members were predominantly Commonwealth states, should be eligible for Commonwealth membership,” the former prime minister added.

Patterson noted that central to his thinking in putting forward this recommendation, was the possibility of making membership in the Commonwealth family available to more non-English-speaking countries, such as those in Africa, as well as Caribbean nations, including Haiti and Suriname. Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony, had been admitted to the Commonwealth in 1995, at a time when there had also been approaches about membership from Rwanda, Yemen and the Palestinian Authority.

Rwanda, formerly German- and Dutch-ruled, applied and was admitted into the Commonwealth during the 2009 CHOGM that was hosted by Trinidad & Tobago. Jamaica’s head of delegation to that meeting was former Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who recounts that while there were human-rights concerns emanating from the report of a Commonwealth-accredited non-governmental organisation, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Commonwealth leaders felt then that the correct approach was to admit Rwanda to membership and assist the African nation that had emerged from a past of genocide, to strengthen its institutional framework for human rights and democratic governance.

“I think that was also Jamaica’s position,” Golding told the Financial Gleaner in an interview.

“The Committee believes that adherence to the Commonwealth’s fundamental principles and values must remain the core criteria for any new members. It is these values that define the modern Commonwealth and bind its members together. While it is important to open the door to new members, it should be done cautiously, and there should be no compromise on the fundamental values,” Patterson had written in the membership committee report that was submitted to Commonwealth heads at their November 2007 meeting in Kampala, Uganda, and which was accepted.

The 34-page report added: “The Committee came to the view that, provided an aspirant member was a sovereign state, had a historic constitutional link with an existing member or a group of members and adhered to the Commonwealth’s fundamental principles, values and norms, a modest expansion in membership would be in the interest of the Commonwealth’s strategic engagement with the wider world.”

The core criteria for membership were set out as being an applicant country’s “demonstrable commitment to democracy and democratic processes, including free and fair elections and representative legislatures; the rule of law and independence of the judiciary; good governance, including a well-trained public service and transparent public accounts; protection of human rights, freedom of expression, and equality of opportunity”.

Patterson and Golding agree that Commonwealth membership would have assisted countries Rwanda in developing the capacity for democratic governance and upholding human rights.

It is against this background that Patterson said Kagame’s visit is timely and welcomed.

Patterson, who was Jamaica’s sixth prime minister, is also of the view that Commonwealth membership has helped many small nations to navigate global geopolitical and economic affairs as part of a larger body that amplifies their voices, concerns and influence.

huntley.medley@gleanerjm.com