Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

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The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is a biennial meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations. Every two years the meeting is held in a different member state, and is chaired by that nation's respective Prime Minister or President. Most meetings include an appearance by Queen Elizabeth II, who is the titular Head of the Commonwealth. The first CHOGM was held in 1971. Previously to that year, and since 1944, Meetings of Commonwealth Prime Ministers were held, always in London.

In the past, CHOGMs have attempted to orchestrate common policies on certain contentious issues and current events, with a special focus on issues affecting member nations. In the past, CHOGMs have discussed the continuation of apartheid rule in South Africa and how to stop it, military coups in Pakistan and Fiji, and allegations of electoral fraud in Zimbabwe. Sometimes the member states agree on a common idea or solution, and release a joint statement declaring their opinion.

As the cultural and economic links between the Commonwealth countries continue to decline, the meeting's agenda has become more and more relaxed and its relevance questioned. The Commonwealth has grown increasingly large in recent years (it now has over 40 members) and as a result is becoming an increasingly difficult forum to establish any sort of political consensus in. Fears have also been raised that the Commonwealth's agenda is unfairly monopolized by African issues. This is unpopular with non-African member states, who resent the exclusion of the affairs of their regions, but also with the African states themselves. Many of them view the Commonwealth as a neo-colonial organization dominated by a "White Commonwealth", that is to say those "Anglosphere" countries who are also members of the Commonwealth. The future of the Commonwealth thus remains in doubt. Some have proposed the organization be split in half, with one half for African affairs, and one for the affairs of all other member states.

Contents

History of CHOGM meetings

Date Country City Chairman-in-Office
1971 January 14-22 Singapore Singapore Lee Kuan Yew
1973 August 2-10 Canada Ottawa Pierre Trudeau
1975 April 29-May 6 Jamaica Kingston Michael Manley
1977 June 8-15 United Kingdom London James Callaghan
1979 August 1-7 Zambia Lusaka Kenneth Kaunda
1981 September 30-October 7 Australia Melbourne Malcolm Fraser
1983 November 23-29 India New Delhi Indira Gandhi
1985 October 16-22 Bahamas Nassau Lynden Pindling
1986 August 3-5 United Kingdom London Margaret Thatcher
1987 October 13-17 Canada Vancouver Brian Mulroney
1989 October 18-24 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Mahathir bin Mohamad
1991 October 16-21 Zimbabwe Harare Robert Mugabe
1993 October 21-25 Cyprus Limassol George Vassiliou
1995 November 10-13 New Zealand Auckland Jim Bolger
1997 October 24-27 United Kingdom Edinburgh Tony Blair
1999 November 12-14 South Africa Durban Thabo Mbeki
2002 March 2-5 Australia Coolum John Howard
2003 December 5-8 Nigeria Abuja Olusegun Obasanjo
2005 November 25-27 Malta Valletta Lawrence Gonzi

Incidents and actions

  • 1978 A bomb went off outside the venue of the 1978 CHOGM in Sydney, known as the Hilton Bombing.
  • 2001 CHOGM 2001, slated to be held in Brisbane on October 6-9, was cancelled for security reasons in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. The Meeting was adjourned to March 2002, and held in the seaside resort of Coolum, Queensland.

In popular culture

CHOGM has been humourously backronymed to Chappies Holidaying On Government Money.

External links

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