Government confident that Maldives will be removed from CMAG

The government has today expressed confidence that the Maldives will be removed from the agenda of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) at its meeting on 28 September.

Maldives was included in CMAG’s agenda following several concerns being raised about the change of government in the Maldives on 7 February 2012.

CMAG held its first teleconference yesterday since the completion of the investigation of the transfer of power by the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI), which was established by the Maldivian government based on the advice of the Commonwealth.

No decision was made at yesterday’s teleconference about the removal of Maldives from CMAG’s agenda.

Government Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza said that the Ministers could not make a decision on the Maldives issue yesterday due to lack of time.

“After discussion of other matters, when it was time to address the issue of Maldives, there was no time left to continue the teleconference. The official meeting will be held on 28 September. The government is confident that Maldives will be removed from CMAG’s agenda, because the Ministers are of the view that this should be done. They believe that there is no point in keeping Maldives on CMAG’s agenda,” he said.

The Commonwealth has not issued any statement on yesterday’s teleconference.

The Commonwealth Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Maldives, Sir Don McKinnon is currently visiting Maldives.

He has held meetings with President Waheed and former President Mohamed Nasheed, but no information has been released following these meetings.

The Commonwealth has welcomed CNI’s report, and urged all stakeholders to accept and respect the CNI’s findings.