The 2015 edition of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which was held in Malta from November 27 to 29, marked the 50th anniversary of the Commonwealth’s reincarnation as an intergovernmental association. In the five decades since the modern Commonwealth, the association has displayed its fortitude in times of crises; its firm opposition to apartheid in South Africa and the refusal to be complicit in the political oppression in Zimbabwe are some shining examples of its moral courage. However, in recent years the Commonwealth’s credibility has been bruised and its influence has diminished.
One of the recent issues damaging Commonwealth credibility was the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka after the cessation of armed conflict in 2009. In the following years, deafening silence in the wake of the country’s sharp turn towards authoritarianism, and its disregard for rule of law, further eroded confidence in the Commonwealth. Against the backdrop of mounting international criticism for gross violations of human rights, CHOGM 2013 was held in Colombo amid protests, non-attendance and even boycott by some member states. While then President Mahinda Rajapaksa tried to paint a picture of paradise in Sri Lanka, his government had already placed severe restrictions on the media, including on foreign news agencies, and had banned all forms of protests in the country for the duration of the CHOGM.
Fast-forward to 2015 and the political landscape is markedly different. Rajapaksa has been soundly defeated, first in the presidential election in January, and then during his bid for Prime Minister in the August parliamentary elections. The most significant factor defeating Rajapaksa in the presidential election was the en masse Tamil and Muslim voters who cast their ballots for Maithripala Sirisena. The newly formed government, led by President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickramasinghe, has made conciliatory public pronouncements on the need for national reconciliation. In comparison to the previous decade under Rajapaksa, the current administration’s admittedly symbolic gestures have rekindled hope and optimism, especially within the minority communities, the Tamils and Muslims of the North and East.
