The Commonwealth Secretary-General is the head of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the central body which has served the Commonwealth of Nations since its establishment in 1965, and responsible for representing the Commonwealth publicly.[1] The Commonwealth Secretary-General should not be confused with the Head of the Commonwealth, who is currently Queen Elizabeth II.
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The position was created, along with the Secretariat itself, after the fourteenth Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference in London in 1965, which issued a memorandum describing the role of the Secretary-General:
| “ | Both the Secretary-General and his/her staff should be seen to be the servants of Commonwealth countries collectively. They derive their functions from the authority of Commonwealth Heads of Government; and in the discharge of his/her responsibilities in this connection the Secretary-General should have access to Heads of Government...[1] | ” |
The headquarters of the Secretary-General, as with the Secretariat generally, is Marlborough House, a former royal residence in London, which was placed at the disposal of the Secretariat by Queen Elizabeth II. However, as the building cannot house all of the Secretariat's staff in London, additional space is rented elsewhere in London.[2] From this operational base, a large part of the Secretary-General's work involves travelling around the Commonwealth keeping in personal contact with those at the heart of the governments of member states.[2]
The Secretary-General is responsible for formulating the Commonwealth's four-year Strategic Plan, which outlines the Secretariat's goals, plans, and programmes for the following four years. In coordinating this plan, the Secretary-General is entitled to regular discussion with all Commonwealth Heads of Government.[1] Indeed, in this position of having the ear of every Head of Government, the Secretary-General has been described as "probably the contemporary Commonwealth's major resource".[2]
The Secretary-General is in the head of the Commonwealth Secretariat, and all Secretariat staff are responsible and answerable to him or her. He or she is supported by two Deputy Secretaries-General, which are elected by the Heads of Government via the members' High Commissioners in London.[2] Currently, the two Deputy Secretaries-General are Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba and Ransford Smith. He is also assisted by an Assistant Secretary-General for Corporate Affairs Stephen Cutts. The Secretary-General may appoint junior staff at his own discretion, provided the Secretariat can afford it, whilst more senior staff may be appointed only from a shortlist of nominations from the Heads of Government.[2] In practice, the Secretary-General has more power than this; member governments consult the Secretary-General on nominations, and the Secretary-General has also at times submitted nominations of his own.[2]
Formally, the Secretary-General is given the same rank as a High Commissioner or ambassador. However, in practice, his or her rank is considerably higher.[2] At CHOGMs, he or she is the equal of the Heads of Government, except with preference deferred to the longest-serving Head of Government. At other ministerial meetings, he or she is considered primus inter pares.[2] But for the first 3 years (of the job's existence) the Foreign Office refused to invite the Secretary-General to the Queen's annual diplomatic reception at Buckingham Palace, much to Arnold Smith's irritation, until in 1968 this refusal was overridden by the Queen herself[3]
The Secretary-General was originally required to submit annual reports to the Heads of Government, but this has since been changed to reporting at biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM).[2] The Secretary-General is held responsible by the Commonwealth's Board of Governors in London.[1]
Since the 1993 CHOGM, it has been decided that the Secretary-General is elected to a maximum of two four-year terms.[1] The election is held by the assembled Heads of Government and other ministerial representatives at every other CHOGM. Nominations are received from the member states' governments, who sponsor the nomination through the election process and are responsible for withdrawing their candidate as they see fit.[1]
The election is held in a Restricted Session of the CHOGM, in which only Heads of Government or ministerial representatives thereof may be present. The Chair of the CHOGM (the Head of Government of the host nation) is responsible for ascertaining which candidate has the greatest support, through the conduct of negotiations and secret straw polls.[1]
There is usually a convention that an incumbent seeking a second term in office is elected unopposed for his or her second term.[4] However, this was broken by a Zimbabwe-backed bid for Sri Lankan Lakshman Kadirgamar to displace New Zealand's Don McKinnon in 2003. At the vote, however, Kadirgamar was easily defeated by McKinnon, with only 11 members voting for him against 40 for McKinnon.[5]
In the most recent election, at the 2011 CHOGM, India's Kamalesh Sharma was re-elected to his second term unopposed. Sharma had won the position at the 2007 CHOGM, when he defeated Malta's Michael Frendo to replace McKinnon, who had served the maximum two terms.
| Name | Country | Birth | Death | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Arnold Smith | Canada | 18 January 1915 | 7 February 1994 | 1 July 1965 | 30 June 1975 |
| 2nd | Sir Shridath Ramphal | Guyana | 3 October 1928 | Living | 1 July 1975 | 30 June 1990 |
| 3rd | Chief Emeka Anyaoku | Nigeria | 18 January 1933 | Living | 1 July 1990 | 31 March 2000 |
| 4th | Sir Don McKinnon | New Zealand | 27 February 1939 | Living | 1 April 2000 | 31 March 2008 |
| 5th | Kamalesh Sharma | India | 30 September 1941 | Living | 1 April 2008 | Incumbent |
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