The price of hosting CHOGM
April 27, 2013, 6:07 pmThe last hurdle in hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting in Sri Lanka in November was cleared in London last week when the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group concluded its meeting. The Summit venue had been decided long ago and although some countries like Canada were anxious to shift elsewhere, partly due to electoral pressure mounted by sections of the Tamil diaspora whose concentration in certain areas permitted disproportionate influence, Sri Lanka assisted by her friends together with the efforts of the Colombo foreign office as well as the good offices of the Commonwealth Secretariat currently headed by an Indian diplomat, was able to forestall such moves. Whether the people of this country will cheer this ``success,’’ if they see it as such, is of course another matter.
Readers will remember the sigh of relief heaved by the majority of the population when our earlier effort to host the Commonwealth Games here was aborted. The reason for that was the cost. Although we are now classified as a middle income country and is no longer qualified to receive foreign aid on terms we previously enjoyed, there is no escaping the fact that our government and our political leaders have long favored a profligate lifestyle far removed from the hardship that ordinary folk must contend with on an everyday basis. Hosting CHOGM no doubt will not cost us the big bucks that a mega event like the Commonwealth Games would have entailed. Although we are notorious for our short memories, we are certain that many of us will remember what the bid itself cost and the wasteful junketing indulged in to push our claim. Yet whether a realistic cost: benefit study of hosting CHOGM here would yield favorable numbers remains debatable. Its effect on political egos is, of course, something else.
Nevertheless, there must be a sense of satisfaction that the ``Do Sri Lanka Down’’ lobby has not been able to score at Marlborough House last week. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting in London, coming as it did hard on the heels of the Geneva sessions of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) was seen as an opportunity for our detractors to cut a further notch on the barrels of their guns. We were fortunate that Bangladesh is the current chair of CMAG and the Commonwealth Secretariat itself did not appear to favor any Summit venue change. We ourselves do not see any major advantage to ordinary people of this country with Commonwealth leaders coming here and seeing how we are beautifying Colombo, hearing both hosts and guests make the platitudinous speeches that are the norm on such occasions and generally having a good time at the expense of Sri Lanka’s taxpayers. Hopefully, sideline events like the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) held alongside CHOGM might drum up some welcome investments here -but whether that will be so remains to be seen.
We are told that over 200 guests attended a New York bash hosted last week by UN Ambassador Palitha Kohona in connection with CBF. The event itself is some seven months down the road, yet notables including executives of leading New York based financial institutions, general managers of trading companies, television personalities, philanthropists and fashion icons had been present, the New York mission said in a news release. Hopefully they enjoyed their patties and cutlets and the range of Lankan foods and music they were treated to and will promote the business forum within their constituencies. Kohona had an opportunity of telling his guests the opportunities offered by the host country. We hope that he had a receptive audience and these early efforts will yield solid results. Hardnosed businessmen look for profits and put their money in countries where yields are high. That is the reason our bond markets are doing quite nicely in western markets at present. The interest rates are much higher than what prevails in the home market and even if there is some disadvantageous currency fluctuation, a real risk from an investor perspective, these bonds are generally viewed as profitable. That is why they attract investors.
A close reading of Friday’s Commonwealth communiqué on the CMAG (Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group) meeting will show that we have not come out of that meeting sparkling white and squeaky clean. Secretary General Sharma has spoken about ``technical support to Sri Lanka in respect of the appointment and dismissal of senior judges based on examples of good practices across the Commonwealth.’’ That is a clear indication that recent shenanigans in that area have not been favorably looked at within the Commonwealth. What the `technical support’ offered will amount to has not been clarified. Presumably we would be told of how other countries have dealt with similar situations where unfavorable judicial determinations – delivered, pending or anticipated – by incumbent political establishments have been handled better. The issue here was the unseemly haste with which the matter was handled and the way in which the proceedings in the Parliamentary Select Committee were conducted. We would have been clearly faulted by any fair-minded external observer of these events. Despite the hot air generated at the time, these matters have already receded in the public mind. Those who wield such bludgeons are not unmindful about the shortness of the collective public memory.
So we will host CHOGM come November. The Canadian prime minister is already on record saying he will not be here but it is unclear whether Canada itself will boycott the event or, more probably, content herself with lower level representation. It is unlikely that Queen Elizabeth, given her age, will be present. Sri Lanka would no doubt be happy if Prince Charles represents her. Whoever comes or does not, the show will go on and the taxpayers of this country will pick up the tab for an event we could have done without – though not under accusations of being some kind of international pariah, which we are not whatever our other shortcomings.
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