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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 JULY 2015 News 13 Reinventing the 'Common Weal' Can the Malta CHOGM in November pave the way for a 'rebirth' of the Commonwealth into something new and relevant? RAPHAEL VASSALLO IN a sense, this year's CHOGM meeting is the one that no one else really wanted. Originally scheduled to be held in Mauritius, this November's Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting – the 24th since the biennial event first took place in Singapore in 1971 – was briefly left homeless when the Indian Ocean island state abruptly withdrew its offer in 2013 to host the event. In that decision alone, many of the questions concerning the relevance of the Commonwealth in the 21st century could be discerned. Origi- nally founded in 1949 (though its in- ception can be traced to the 1880s), the declared purpose of this volun- tary association of former British dependencies was to rationalise the legacy of Colonialism, with a view to fostering international dialogue among ethnically diverse countries sharing broadly similar historical and cultural characteristics. But in the 70 years since its offi- cial birth, the Commonwealth has struggled to assert its relevance in a fast-changing world. Before leav- ing the organisation in the lurch re- garding this year's summit, Mauri- tius had already boycotted the 2013 CHOGM meeting in Colombo due to a "total lack of accountability" by the government of Sri Lanka re- garding human rights abuses. Failure to rein in human rights abuses among members is a charge frequently laid at the Common- wealth's door; though the same Sri Lanka meeting was poorly attended for other reasons, too. The conspicuous absence of several of the more affluent Com- monwealth countries gave rise to criticism that the organisation was becoming polarised, with the eco- nomic and social differences be- tween individual member countries growing too wide to ever bridge. David Concar, the British Foreign Office's envoy to the Common- wealth, admitted in a meeting with Maltese journalists this week that the 2013 CHOGM had cemented the perception of a North/South (read: "rich/poor") divide. It is in part for this reason that the 2015 CHOGM meeting is regarded – at least, among Commonwealth insiders – as a last-ditch opportuni- ty to breathe new life into an ailing international organisation. Malta's moment It was against this uncertain back- drop that Malta's Prime Minister of- fered to host the 2015 CHOGM: an offer that was met with a standing ovation in Colombo. Clearly, there is one remaining Commonwealth member state that still has faith in the organisation's potential... even if Joseph Muscat himself also warned that the Commonwealth must rein- vent itself if it is to survive. "Malta attaches great importance to the Commonwealth and we believe that this Heads of Govern- ment meeting will be a watershed event in providing an opportunity for Commonwealth leaders to dis- cuss important issues that impinge on the lives of all Commonwealth citizens," he said during a lecture at the London School of economics in July last year: in which he also lik- ened the Commonwealth to a sick patient in need of medicine. "My take is that the Common- wealth should not retire, but should decide what it wants to be. It can opt to remain as it is and sink in total ir- relevance within the next decade or so, or have the courage to make changes, by starting to tackle them at least in piecemeal fashion." What's in it for Malta? So was Muscat's offer to host the 2015 CHOGM motivated exclu- sively by altruistic concerns for the future of the Commonwealth? Per- haps. But there are other possible perks and advantages that might have also interested the Maltese Prime Minister. Phyllis Muscat, head of the CHOGM Malta taskforce, points out that 'CHOGM' – despite the name – is more than just a meet- ing for heads of 53 mostly former British colonies scattered about the globe. Equal floor time is given to a wide variety of other discussion fo- ra… the most anticipated of which is arguably the Commonwealth Business Forum. "We view this as an opportunity to strengthen existing networks, and to boost Malta's profile as an international trade partner," Mus- cat said. These aims are reflected in the carefully chosen themes for this year's CBF: "The Forum will high- light the role the private sector can play in helping to deliver the Sus- tainable Development Goals within the post 2015 development frame- work. In addition to the overarching themes of trade, investment, entre- preneurship and employment, sus- tainability is one of six priority areas of focus identified for the Forum, including financial services, infra- structure, technology, health care and tourism." As can be seen, all the main industries on which Malta's economy is built have somehow found a place on the programme of discussion among 53 countries across the world. And apart from concerns of an economic nature, CHOGM also gives Malta the opportunity to place other issues of strategic importance to the country on the same agenda for international discussion. The biennial event also reserves space for civil society debate. In choosing the theme for this year's 'People's Forum', the Maltese gov- ernment made no secret of its in- tention to focus on immigration: an issue of intense relevance locally, but also in other Commonwealth countries (notably Australia, which to date has not confirmed its pres- ence for the Malta CHOGM yet). "Globalisation, international and intra-national migration, and the growing interconnectedness of peo- ple and cultures through technol- ogy, underpin narratives of growing societal complexity and the erosion of national values and cultures." Given the failure of past efforts to secure a meaningful international discussion on immigration in other international organisations – not least, the European Union – Malta's sudden concern with the health of the Commonwealth may also be in- terpreted as an investment in a fu- ture policy platform that may result in further international pressure for a common approach to this trou- blesome phenomenon. This has arguably been made more urgent in the wake of recent policy decisions by Great Britain – the seat of the Commonwealth, as it were – to withdraw its participation in voluntary life-saving missions in the Mediterranean. On a separate note, there are other, more tangible attractions also. The presence of (almost) the full Royal Family in Malta for the event – Quen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall – will al- most certainly attract international media attention and boost Malta's profile as a tourist destination. As confirmed by a spokesper- son for the Royal family, last year's visit by Prince William served to increase booking enquiries to Malta from the UK by 70%. Security concerns Such benefits must also be off- set by costs; and apart from the fi- nancial costs of hosting CHOGM, recent events in North Africa and elsewhere have radically increased security concerns since Malta last hosted the summit in 2005. David Concar admitted that se- curity issues were a major cause for concern in the wake of the ter- rorist attack in Tunisia last month, though he rebuffed suggestions that the meeting should not go ahead at all. "Not to hold the meeting would be to give in to terrorists," he told Mal- tese journalists at a press briefing in Whitehall this week. Separately he also confirmed that the Foreign Office was 'looking very closely' at security arrangements, and that the British government has offered Malta assistance in this re- gard. "You will however appreciate that, for obvious reasons, I cannot divulge any specific details at this time," he added. Officers in SWAT training with just five months left for CHOGM MATTHEW VELLA WITH five months to go for the Commonwealth Heads of Gov- ernment Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta, training for Special Weap- ons and Tactics (SWAT) has only started a few weeks ago. Under pressure over heightened security demands for the meeting of 53 prime ministers and a mon- arch, it was only in May that the first SWAT training for Rapid In- tervention Unit officers started. 40 RIU officers have already re- ceived training in SWAT tactics according to the ministry's an- nual report for 2014. Abela also told the House that the first stage of training started on 11 May, reassuring parliament that the complement undergoing SWAT training would be "sufficient for local necessities" and that the of- ficers would remain part of the RIU. "Their duties will be similar to those of SWAT teams in service around the world. Their duties will include risk operations con- nected to serious crime, anti- terrorism, tactical support, and protection of dignitaries." Malta will host CHOGM in No- vember 2015 after having first secured its bid back in November 2013. The RIU was established un- der former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit in 2013, to replace the Special Assignment Group set up in the late 1980s under then home affairs minister Guido de Marco. The SAG itself was set up to replace the Special Mobile Unit, disbanded in a bid to depoliticise the notorious riot squad. Specialist law enforcement blog Corpidelite.net claims former SAG members have complained of the lack of a dedicated SWAT unit within the RIU: "The SAG represented Malta in the Atlas Network, an informal association consisting of the police tactical units of the 28 states of the Euro- pean Union, whose goal is to im- prove cooperation and sharing of expertise among police officers. The last Atlas exercise carried out by the SAG took place in 2013 in Italy, with the participation of the Italian State Police Nucleo Cent- rale di Sicurezza, the Carabinieri's Gruppo d'Intervento Speciale and the Austrian Einsatzkommando Cobra." Abela has told the House in his reply to a PQ that the SWAT- trained officers will become a permanent unit within the RIU. Malta secured its bid in Novem- ber 2013 after Mauritius pulled out from holding the event in protest over the decision to hold that year's gathering in Sri Lanka, which is accused of committing widespread human rights viola- tions. Mauritius was chosen to stage the biennial gathering in 2015, but its Prime Minister, Navin Chandra Ramgoolam announced just ahead of the Colombo gath- ering that it no longer wanted to play the role of host, citing Sri Lanka's human rights record. The leaders of India and Canada also stayed away from the summit af- ter allegations of war crimes com- mitted by Sri Lankan government forces at the end of the country's 37-year ethnic conflict.