The Commonwealth Chair-in-Office (CIO) is the Chair-in-Office of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

, and is one of the main leadership positions in the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

. It is held by the host chairperson of the previous

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM; or) is a wiktionary:biennial, biennial summit meeting of the List of current heads of state and government, governmental leaders from all Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations. ...

(CHOGM), and is maintained until the next CHOGM. Fiamē Naomi Mata‘afa,

Prime Minister of Samoa The prime minister of the Independent State of Samoa () is the head of government of Independent State of Samoa, Samoa. The prime minister is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa, Legislative Assembly, and is appointed by the O le Ao o ...

, is the current Chair-in-Office of the association since 25 October 2024.

Overview

The primary responsibility of the Chair-in-Office is to host the CHOGM, but their roles can be expanded. For example, after the 2002 CHOGM, the incumbent, previous, and next Chairmen-in-Office formed a troika in an attempt to resolve the ongoing dispute over

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

's membership of the Commonwealth. The position was created after the 1999 CHOGM, with

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

becoming the first Chair-in-Office. However, Mbeki did very little to develop the position, leaving it virtually vacant until the next CHOGM in 2002, when the troika was created. Even after

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

became Chair, the troika's first meeting was in London, in the presence of the

Commonwealth Secretary-General The Commonwealth secretary-general, formally the secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations, is the head of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the central body which has served the Commonwealth of Nations since its establishment in 1965, and r ...

. The third Chair,

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...

, did more to invigorate the role of the position after taking over in 2003. From the assumption of the role at the 2009 CHOGM, representatives from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

, including the Prime Ministers, attended Commonwealth meetings, including 2011 Commonwealth Day celebrations where

Kamla Persad-Bissessar Kamla Susheila Persad-Bissessar Senior Counsel, SC Member of parliament, MP (, born 22 April 1952), often referred to by her initials KPB is a Trinidadian lawyer, politician and educator who has twice served as the sixth List of prime ministers ...

, the first woman to chair the Commonwealth, gave the keynote address.

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

was due to host the Commonwealth Economic Forum in 2011 but it was held instead in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia, due to accusations of war crimes committed during the Sri Lankan Civil War. As

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

succeeded Persad-Bissessar as the second female Chair at the 2011 CHOGM. Julia Gillard was in-turn succeeded by

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

after she resigned as

on 27 June 2013. Rudd went on to lose the

Australian federal election Elections in Australia take place periodically to elect the legislature of the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as for each Australian state and territory and for local government councils. Elections in all jurisdictions follow similar princ ...

in September 2013, and consequently was succeeded as Commonwealth's CiO by the new prime minister

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

. Abbott remained in the position until Commonwealth leaders met for the 23rd time on 15 November 2013, where he was succeeded by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

, who was succeeded by

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (; ; born 3 September 1951) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh president of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province, S ...

in 2015.

List of chairs-in-office

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commonwealth Chairs-In-Office Chairs-in-Office