Statement by Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group
Monday, 18 November 2013 00:01
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The reconstituted Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) met in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 17 November 2013. The meeting was attended by Guyanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Sierra Leone Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Samura Kamara, Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Bernard K. Membe, Deputy Secretary, New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Gerard Van Boheman, High Commissioner of Cyprus to the United Kingdom Euripedes Evriviades and High Commissioner of Pakistan to Sri Lanka Qasim Qureshi. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Solomon Islands was not able to attend the meeting.
The group elected Bernard K. Membe, the Foreign Minister of Tanzania, as its Chair, and the Foreign Minister of New Zealand Murray McCully as its Vice-Chair. CMAG also reviewed the situation in Maldives following the holding of a presidential run-off election on 16 November.
Ministers welcomed the successful conclusion of the presidential election and noted the interim statement of the Commonwealth Observer Group, which stated that the election had been “credible and peaceful”. They congratulated the people of Maldives for showing their firm commitment to democracy, and for exercising their franchise in record numbers.
Ministers noted that the inauguration of the new president had taken place on 17 November, and conveyed their best wishes to him.
CMAG recalled its decision of 13 November to place Maldives on its formal agenda pending the holding of a credible election on 16 November and the inauguration of a new president.
Ministers therefore decided to remove Maldives from CMAG’s formal agenda.
