FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu (CU)_In February this year, the Commonwealth Secretariat announced that the long-awaited Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) will be held in June, in Rwanda. The summit was initially scheduled to be held in 2020, but was postponed twice on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the main items on the agenda in this year’s meeting is the election of a new Secretary General for the Commonwealth. The role is currently being held by Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal. She was elected at the CHOGM in 2015 and took office in April 2016.
Several diplomats and state officials are running for her position this year, including a government official from one of the smallest countries in the Commonwealth, who is now appealing for support from across the Pacific region. Sir Iakoba Italeli is a former Governor-General of Tuvalu, appointed by the Queen in April 2010. He left office in 2019and has now decided to run for the role of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Chief Executive.
He believes “it is time for a Pacific Islander to guide the organization”. “I only hope that Pacific islands can come together and support me so that we can be seen as a region working together,” he said during a recent interview with RNZ Pacific. Sir Iakoba is of the view that the Commonwealth Secretariat is in need for a “change for the better” to better serve its member states. He also believes that Pacific islands from the Commonwealth, including Tuvalu should have an opportunity to lead and unite the organisation. “There are so many people who have raised their concerns and about the problems with the current Commonwealth Secretariat,” he said. “The Secretariat could function better…to harness more funding for the Commonwealth member states and better guide the organisation.”
