Count Down For Statesman's Visit

In the count down to the visit by the Commonwealth Secretary General The Rt Hon Don McKinnon, to Wolverhampton on the 3rd March. The Mayor Councillor Phil Bateman MBE looks at his most recent visits to speak with leading politicians in Africa and Asia.

The Mayor said " This visit is so important for Wolverhampton, and when you see the measure of what the Secretary General has undertaken in just the last few weeks, you can see what an important coupe we have pulled off in getting this very busy man and World Statesman to come and speak to us here in Wolverhampton.

I have laid out Secretary General McKinnon's schedule that he undertook in the early part of February, and the sort of issues he has been in discussion about with Governments. Boy and what a set of issues they were!

Hopefully the Secretary General will use his visit to speak to the City about important social and political issues.

His Office has indicated to me a willingness on his behalf to speak with the local press.That I am sure will enthuse the local media.

Here are some of the issues that he has discussed with Prime Ministers in Africa and Asia in this last month ;

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon first travelled to Swaziland on 10-11 February 2006 to attend the State Opening of Parliament and the adoption of its new constitution.

The Secretary-General's visit follows an invitation by King Mswati III.

It was reported that The Secretary-General's discussions with the King and senior members of his Government will focus on continuing Commonwealth support towards the implementation of the new constitution and generally towards the strengthening of democratic processes and institutions in Swaziland. The Secretary-General also delivered a keynote address to a joint sitting of the House of Assembly and the Senate.

The Secretary General then travelled to the Asian Sub Continent and met with the Indian Prime Minister.

The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon.

India's growing role in world affairs was among the range of issues which were understood to have come up for discussions

The Indian Press reported that "The two leaders are believed to have discussed India's participation in the Commonwealth and ways in which it could be enhanced.

India has been an active member of the 53-nation organization and is contributing substantially in terms of money and human resources.

McKinnon, who is on a three-day tour here, also met Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

He will also participate in the Commonwealth broadcasters' conference here.

Ahead of his meetings, the Commonwealth chief said involvement with India was an important factor for this organization as the two shared the values of democracy and development.

He said his visit would focus on discussions of issues like debt management, exports and public sector reform. The Commonwealth is already engaged in the public sector reform process in states like Kerala and plans were afoot to do the same at the national level," .

Dhaka Bangladesh, Feb 18: Commonwealth Secretary General Donald McKinnon visited the office of Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia yesterday. Appreciating the caretaker system in Bangladesh, Commonwealth Secretary General Donald C McKinnon expressed his confidence that this interim arrangement would also bring success in the future polls as in the last three general elections.

His remarks came when he made a courtesy call on Prime Minister Khaleda Zia at her office yesterday afternoon.

The visiting Commonwealth Secretary General observed that the caretaker-government system in Bangladesh had worked "very well" for the past three general elections.

McKinnon congratulated Prime Minister Khaleda on their introducing the caretaker provision in the Constitution during her tenure.The Prime Minister said Bangladesh would welcome if Commonwealth sent election observers during 2007 general election, as at the time of previous elections.

As part of his three-nation South Asian tour McKinnon arrived in Bangladesh from India on Thursday and would go to Pakistan on the last leg of his trip.

The Secretary General appraised Prime Minister Khaleda of the last Malta Commonwealth Summit decisions, including enhancement of trade relations, saying that he missed the PM at the summit.Begum Zia said now is the time to implement the Summit decision."

Pakistan then was on the list, and it looks like the Secretary General had his hands full in Pakistan on his vist there, as one of the leading newspapers in Pakistan argued that "the issue of President Pervez Musharraf holding both presidency and army chief’s office resounded in Islamabad today with Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon’s arrival and meetings with top leaders including Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz here.

While there was no authentic word available on whether or not McKinnon raised the issue with Musharraf, the statements released to the official media quoted both Musharraf and Aziz as reassuring strength of democracy in Pakistan to the Secretary General.

''Policy of good governance has strengthened democracy and democratic institutions in Pakistan,'' the state-run Pakistan television quoted Musharraf as telling McKinnon.

Prime Minister Aziz also did not miss the opportunity to convince the Commonwealth official on the robustness of democracy in Pakistan.

The parliament is fully functional, with a vocal and free press in the country, Aziz said.



The Mayor added "so you can see from these excerpts that we have a real statesman visiting Wolverhampton and I do hope that we will greet him with enthusiasm, and make his visit very worthwhile."