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dispute over Zimbabwe has dominated
the summit. Many countries resent
the amount of time it's taken up, but others stressed the
vital importance of insisting on Commonwealth
standards of democracy. The New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark,
denied that Zimbabwe's withdrawal was a disaster for the Commonwealth.
The disaster would have been to lift the
suspension, she said; that would have shown the Commonwealth
to be a joke.
On the other side of the argument, President Joaquim Chissano
of Mozambique said the Commonwealth decision had pushed Zimbabwe
to leave and could have been avoided. He also complained that
the organisation had acted undemocratically itself last March,
when the suspension was left in place beyond the original twelve
months. But Mr Chissano said he respected the views of others
in the Commonwealth and didn't think the
episode should bring about enmity
between member states. In the end, the Southern Africa supporters
of the Zimbabwe government under-estimated
the opposition across the Commonwealth, including that
of some other African states, to letting Zimbabwe back without
progress on democracy and human rights.
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the dispute: the disagreement, the
argument
dominated: was the most important
subject
the summit: a summit is an official
meeting between leaders of two or more governments
resent the amount of time it's taken up:
are angry that so much time has been used on this subject
Commonwealth: an organisation including
the United Kingdom and countries that were part of the British
Empire
to lift the suspension: to allow
Zimbabwe back into the organisation
the episode: what happened at the summit
bring about enmity: cause bad
feeling
under-estimated the opposition:
didn't realise the opposition was so strong
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