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Prime Minister's Remarks at the Closing Ceremonies of the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting
25 November 2007
KAMPALA, UGANDA
PLEASE CHECK AGAINST DELIVERYThank you very much Mr. Chairman. I have the pleasure of speaking on behalf of not just Canada but also the United Kingdom, Cypress and Malta, and we want to thank you President Museveni, the Ugandan officials and the people of Uganda who have supported our work these past few days. You all welcomed us warmly to your beautiful country and the hospitality that you have extended us has been extraordinary.
I believe we have much to be pleased about from the work we have done here in Kampala. We have upheld the core values of the Commonwealth in the pursuit of democracy, good governance, human rights and the rule of law. We did that most particularly in our decision to suspend Pakistan from the Councils of the Commonwealth, a difficult decision but one which we have done while emphasizing our desire to help Pakistan back to the path of democracy.
We have delivered a substantive statement on climate change, consistent with those of a number of other international organizations and one which builds momentum towards next month’s important United Nations conference in Indonesia.
We also, of course, just addressed the difficult issue of selecting a new Secretary General. This has been difficult for two reasons; first of all we are obviously losing the outstanding leadership of Secretary General McKinnon, and I know we all thank him for his efforts. We have also had the difficult task of selecting a new Secretary General from a choice of candidates of demonstrable ability and leadership. We look forward to working with Secretary General Sharma as the Commonwealth pursues what it does best: human rights, good governance, and the rule of law.
Also as I speak today for Malta, I particularly want to extend our very best wishes to Minister Frendo for making the choice so difficult and for his exemplary conduct of the CMAG process, our foreign ministers.
I believe that we, as heads of government, have had an exceptional opportunity to get to know each other and to discuss our many common challenges. The communiqué and the associated statements we’ve adopted demonstrate our cooperation and add to the international debate on many important issues that are critical to our world.
We all look forward to being in Trinidad and Tobago in two years under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Manning.
In the meantime, once again President Museveni, your steady and thoughtful management of our meetings has contributed greatly to the quality of our discussions and the quality of the outcomes. Of course, once again, we also want to thank you and Ugandans for the unwavering friendliness that has made it a please to be here.
Thank you.
