Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon to visit Pakistan
17 September 2007
Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon will visit Islamabad at the invitation of the Pakistan Government from 19-21 September 2007.
During his visit the Secretary-General is expected, among others, to meet with President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Mian Khurshid Kasuri. He will also meet with High Commissioners of Commonwealth member countries who are represented in Pakistan.
The Secretary-General will reiterate the Commonwealth’s position with respect to the President’s retention of two offices, as spelt out by the Commonwealth Heads of Government in Malta in November 2005. He will also brief his hosts on preparations for and key issues likely to be discussed at the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting in Uganda, from 23-25 November 2007. This includes the theme of the meeting, “Transforming Commonwealth Societies to achieve political, economic, and human development”; and the Report of the Commission on Respect and Understanding, which focuses on how better to understand the causes of conflict, the breakdown of understanding within and between communities, and its implications for policy-makers.
The Secretary-General will also seek an assessment of political developments in Pakistan, and enquire about plans for the elections to the National and Provincial Assemblies due to be held in the next few months. This would be especially useful in view of the forthcoming meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) in New York on 29 September, which will review political developments in Fiji Islands as well as Pakistan.
Note to Editors:
Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG)
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration was established by Commonwealth Heads of Government in November 1995 to deal with serious or persistent violations of the Harare Declaration, which lays down the Commonwealth's fundamental political values.
The Group is convened by the Secretary-General and is composed of the Foreign Ministers of nine Commonwealth member countries. It currently includes the Foreign Ministers of Canada, Lesotho, Malaysia, Malta, Papua New Guinea, St Lucia, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom and United Republic of Tanzania.
Their task is to assess the nature of the infringement on the Harare Declaration and recommend measures for collective Commonwealth action aimed at the speedy restoration of democracy and constitutional rule.
To date the group has met 27 times (excluding special or extraordinary meetings), the last meeting was in London on the 8 December 2006.
Pakistan was readmitted to the Commonwealth in May 2004 after a five-year suspension following the 1999 coup, which brought President Musharraf to power.
At the Malta CHOGM in 2005, Heads of Government “noted that the holding by the same person of the offices of Head of State and Chief of Army Staff is incompatible with the basic principles of democracy and the spirit of the Harare Commonwealth principles. They reiterated that until the two offices are separated, the process of democratisation in Pakistan will not be irreversible.”
For Media Enquiries, and opportunities to interview the Secretary-General, please contact Manoah Esipisu, Deputy Spokesperson on Tel +44 789 446 2021 or m.esipisu@commonwealth.int
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