Stiff contest in CPA election tomorrow

Jaishree Balasubramanian
Kuala Lumpur, Aug 8 (PTI) Amid acrimonious exchanges between the Indian and British delegations, Lord Swraj Paul and a Malaysian Minister will battle it out for the Chairmanship of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) here tomorrow.

Paul, a Labour member of the House of Lords, sponsored by Britain and
Canada, is contesting against Malaysia's Culture Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal
for the top post in the CPA which has 15,000 members covering 177 branches.

Ironically, the official Indian line is to support the Malaysian against the
high-profile NRI (non-resident Indian) although individually the 32 Indian
delegates are free to vote for either candidate.

But the British delegation has alleged that India and Malaysia were involved
in "shocking deals", a charge rebutted by the leader of the Indian
delegation, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee who said that the British
comments were "not in good taste".

"It shows some little agony is felt somewhere," Chatterjee said referring to
a statement Hugh Bayley, leader of the Commonwealth Parliamentary
Association, that deals had been struck between the Indians and Malaysians
three years ago when Speaker of India's West Bengal state legislative
assembly H A Halim was elected Chairman.

Lord Paul, whose name was proposed by Britain and Canada, felt a
clarification was required on the atmosphere with the developing and
developed countries forming opposing groups. "This is not the spirit of the
CPA," he said.

Paul said the person who is elected to the post should be the "best person
for the job who has the understanding, ability, experience to manage and
deliver and who also had the time available to carry out this task." PTI