Commonwealth Secretariat
The Commonwealth Secretariat was one of the principle organs of the Commonwealth of Peoples. The Secretariat was headed by the Commonwealth Secretary General who was assisted by a large staff of Commonwealth civil servants. The Secretariat studied problems, provided information and carried out tasks according to the instructions of the Commonwealth General Assembly to which it was responsible. The Treaty of St. Casimir required that the staff be geographically, ethnically and linguistically diverse as well as selected based upon high standards of competence and integrity.
The Secretary General is responsible only to the General Assembly and is appointed only by the General Assembly. His Member Government has no say whatsoever in his appointment or conduct. The other members of the Secretariat are appointed only by the Secretary General. The Secretariat does not have the political status or the independence of the Commonwealth Commission. It has no authority to take the initiative. It can only act upon a specific request from the General Assembly.
The Secretariat was largely created to curtail the influence of the political and independent Commission. Because of this, the boundaries between the Secretariat and the Commission is unclear. They share many of the same practical functions such as gathering information, monitoring human rights, organizing conferences and carrying out other sorts of practical tasks to give the pronouncements of other Commonwealth bodies a reality on the ground. Nonetheless, the Secretariat does not have the Commission's powers to act independently, to control the Commonwealth Defense Force and Commonwealth Space Force and to carry out the Commonwealth Common Foreign Policy.
After the Secretariat was created by the Treaty of St. Casimir, Stephen Jefferson, a Lanerian diplomat, was appointed as the first Secretary General. Jefferson quickly associated himself with resistance to emerging Commonwealth nationhood. This position made him popular in Hipolis and Laneria. Jefferson has affirmed publically that the Commonwealth is simply an alliance and has criticized Commission President Viscountess Kairis for making statements to the contrary. Exactly how Jefferson's conservatism regarding the status of the Commonwealth and his deference to the will of the Members will carry over into his actual conduct in office remains to be seen.
