Commonwealth leaders to discuss succession and Sri Lanka at Perth summit

Commonwealth leaders will gather in Perth from Friday for a meeting set to tackle issues ranging from revamping the British throne’s succession to alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

Queen Elizabeth II will officially open the 54-nation Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) summit, held every two years, which will take place over three days amid tight security.

Reforming the Commonwealth as it struggles to remain relevant 62 years after it was founded will also be a key focus for the grouping, composed mainly of former British colonies and embracing some two billion citizens.

Member nations have been presented with a seminal 205-page report compiled by an Eminent Persons Group they commissioned in 2009, which sets out more than 100 recommendations for leaders to consider.

"This will be a CHOGM focused on resilience, reform and renewal," said Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma.

The leaders will discuss proposals to change the rules of succession for the British throne, with the issue taking on new momentum since the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton in April.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has written to the leaders of the 15 other Commonwealth realms where the Queen is head of state to propose allowing first-born daughters and heirs who marry Catholics to inherit the throne.

A spokesman for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said: "I don’t have any indications (from Commonwealth nations) that there is much opposition to this."

Human rights is also set to be a banner issue, especially after a suppressed report into the failings of the Commonwealth warned that it was losing relevance and credibility because of the failure to tackle abuses by member states.

The report, found that the Commonwealth was no longer the standard-bearer of human rights, a reputation it enjoyed in the 1980s when it “led the world struggle” to achieve the rule of law, according to The Times.

To rectify this failure to engage with problem countries, the report proposed a “Commissioner for Democracy, the Rule of Law and Human Rights”.

Australia, Britain and Canada favour a stronger focus on human rights, but other countries resent outside influence.

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse is in Perth and rights groups says CHOGM has a moral and legal responsibility to hold his government to account over war crimes claims during its 2009 offensive against the Tamil Tigers.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the CHOGM host, has said the allegations were a concern.

"Australia and like-minded countries have been urging and will continue to urge Sri Lanka to address the serious allegations that have been made of human rights violations," she said.

However, she noted that Australia has obligations under international law which extend immunity to visiting heads of state.

Harper has made clear there should be an independent investigation into the allegations and has threatened to boycott Sri Lanka’s hosting of CHOGM in 2013 if there is not more accountability.

Climate change was a key theme of the last meeting in Port of Spain and with small island states and 19 African countries Commonwealth members, it is again seen as playing a major part.

Rising sea levels threaten several Commonwealth countries, including tiny Tuvalu in the Pacific, while drought and record high temperatures are hitting crop yields and agriculutural productivity in other nations.

Commonwealth officials told AFP that South African President Jacob Zuma wants the issue at the forefront of talks in Perth ahead of his country’s hosting of the UN climate summit in Durban in November.

Most Commonwealth leaders will be in Australia for the summit, although Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has pulled out without giving a reason while Cameron will arrive late so he can attend eurozone debt crisis talks.

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