Around 30 parliamentarians from across the Commonwealth descended on Parliament on Friday for the closing day of a week-long training programme.

Labour MP Katya De Giovanni and Nationalist MP Eve Borg Bonello were among the group to take part in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Academy residency programme, which aims to develop attendees’ skills and act as an opportunity for networking.

Established in 2021, the academy offers online training in management, communications and leadership skills. Each year, its residency programme takes place in a different Commonwealth country, with recently elected parliamentarians often among the attendees.

The Commonwealth comprises some 56 countries, covering around 2.7 billion people, according to the organisation’s website. Europe is home to three member countries: Malta, Cyprus and the UK.

Friday’s closing session saw attendees mentored by MPs Carmelo Abela and Claudette Buttigieg, give speeches in the Parliament building chambers and take part in practice interviews.

Times of Malta interviewed MPs from Pakistan, Australia, Kenya, Montserrat in the Caribbean, Lesotho and Eswatini – two landlocked countries within the borders of South Africa – in mock TV appearances.

The MPs were grilled on a range of policies, campaigns and scandals from the fictional country ‘Mar Montana’ they were tasked with representing.

The academy ended with a session in the Parliament chambers led by Speaker Anġlu Farrugia.

Around 30 MPs from across the Commonwealth travelled to Malta for training. Photo: DOI.

De Giovanni called the course “one of the best training experiences of my life... very uplifting” – words echoed by Borg Bonello, who said the academy, which she has attended twice, “always exceeds expectations.”

Asked about the Commonwealth, which has faced questions over its continued relevance in recent years, both indicated that while such questions were valid, the organisation continued to serve as a platform for “cultural diplomacy” and the “sharing of ideas”.

Topics covered throughout the residency programme included strategic thinking, diplomacy, social media, the use of generative AI, and speechmaking.

In an interview with Times of Malta in 2023, the UK’s envoy to the Commonwealth Jo Lomas said the organisation offers Malta “a completely different diverse network to draw from,” than other international bodies such as the EU.

Pointing to large non-EU economies such as India, Lomas suggested that Malta, as a small country, would not “have the capacity to develop relationships with such a wide range of countries" were it not for the Commonwealth.