17th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting | |
---|---|
Host country | Australia |
Dates | 2–5 March 2002 |
Cities | Coolum Beach, Queensland, Australia |
Participants | 51 (of 54 members) |
Heads of State or Government | 35 |
Chair | John Howard (Prime Minister) |
Follows | 1999 |
Precedes | 2003 |
Key points | |
The 2002 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the 17th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Coolum, Queensland, Australia, between 2 and 5 March 2002, and hosted by the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard.
Planned to have been hosted in Brisbane on 6 October 2001, the CHOGM was postponed only nine days before it was due to be held, on account of the 11 September terrorist attacks on the United States.[1] When the meeting was finally held, three issues loomed large on the agenda: security, the future of the Commonwealth, and (most prominently) Zimbabwe's upcoming presidential election.[2]
The meeting was attended by representatives of 51 countries out of the Commonwealth's 54 members (suspended member Pakistan was not invited, whilst Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada sent no representatives).[2] Of those, 35 were represented by their head of state or head of government.[2]