Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-01-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy regarding presidents and others who perpetuate their power and authority in the Commonwealth; and whether the Commonwealth as a whole has a policy on that matter.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The British Government expects all Commonwealth states to uphold the standards enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter; which makes clear that governments, political parties and civil society are responsible for upholding and promoting democratic culture and practices and are accountable to the public in this regard.

In supporting greater adherence to Commonwealth political values and principles, the Commonwealth Secretariat, under its Strategic Plan (2014/15), has engaged with the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) and the services of the Secretary General’s Good Offices. The Secretariat has also carried out election management and promoted the values of respect and understanding. This resulted in CMAG’s decision to restore Fiji to full Commonwealth membership and involved the deployment of election observation teams to 13 elections in 11 countries. All election missions reported credible results in accordance with Commonwealth norms.