Cayman to host major Commonwealth meeting

CNS): Dignitaries and leaders from around the Commonwealth will meet in Cayman next week to discuss a new Commonwealth Charter during an Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), meeting. The pan-Commonwealth parliamentary debate on the Charter of Commonwealth values, which was signed by the British monarch who is head of the commonwealth, will consider ways to strengthen parliamentary democracy.  The CPA meeting is set from 18 to 21 March and will be hosted by the Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly.

Mary Lawrence, the Legislative Assembly’s speaker said membership  of the CPA had brought numerous benefits to Cayman including training opportunities for legislators at both the regional and global level, “exposure to new thoughts and ideas, and participation in formulating policy and change which emphasises the further development of democratic principles and good governance” she said. 

Juliana O’Connor Connolly, the current premier stated that as the Caribbean and Americas representative of the CPA Executive Committee (ExCo) she was delighted to have the mid-year meet in the Cayman Islands. “I look forward to productive meetings,” she said. “As premier, I welcome all of the delegation and I also take this opportunity to showcase our beautiful islands.”

Chairperson of the CPA Executive Committee, Sir Alan Haselhurst, MP from the United Kingdom said the meeting will provide an important opportunity for Commonwealth Parliamentarians to contribute directly to the “implementation of the new Commonwealth Charter and to ensure that their governments adhere to the values that now officially bind them together.”

The Charter commits all Commonwealth governments to uphold the principles of democracy, good governance and respect for human rights and the rule of law, among others.

The meeting in the Cayman Islands will also set the agenda for the 59th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, to be hosted by the Parliament of South Africa in late August in Johannesburg. The Committee will consider whether to hold a pan-Commonwealth debate on the Charter at the Conference, which is to be held a few months before the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

CPA Secretary-General Dr William F. Shija said the Committee, composed of MPs representing close to 185 Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures, will also consider new proposals for other CPA services for MPs. A seminar with theInternational Monetary Fund on parliamentary oversight of financial and economic policy is to be considered, as is a possible workshop on women’s leadership in enterprise linked to the Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting in June in Bangladesh. Also on the agenda is a proposed briefing session for MPs on cyber security issues to be held in Cameroon with the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

These events would be added to the Association’s extensive agenda of meetings and electronic and paper publications to share good governance practices among the assemblies of the 54-nation Commonwealth as part of the international organization’s democratic commitment.

The CPA leaders applauded the Cayman Islands for enabling the 35-Member Committee to meet in its capital, George Town, as guests of its Legislative Assembly and government.

Cayman joined the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association which composed of the Parliaments and Legislatures in 52 of the 54 Commonwealth nations and their overseas territories in 1964. It has a membership of close to 17,000 Members of national, state, provincial and territorial Assemblies. The only Commonwealth country not currently in the CPA is Brunei, which does not have an elected Parliament and The CPA Branch in Fiji Islands is in abeyance as the South Pacific country is currently ruled by a military government.