Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulla Shahid has expressed concern over the delay in Maldives re-admission into the Commonwealth of Nations.
Giving an interview to an Indian news outlet during an ongoing visit to attend a meeting of the India-Maldives Joint Commission in Delhi, FM Shahid expressed his concern over the delay in accepting the country’s re-submission.
He added that said concerns have been shared with Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland on two separate occasions.
I was told that it is being carried out under the set procedure”FM Shahid
The minister expressed hope to join the organization before the Commonwealth Summit to be held in Kigali, Rwanda.
Revealing that the SG assured that the process will be fast-tracked, FM Shahid stated that the government remains in hope of receiving a letter by Scotland, within early-2020.
While a Commonwealth delegation was in Maldives during August to assess the country’s re-submission, FM Shahid had expressed Maldives commitment to “promote and uphold the ideals of the group including promotion of democratic norms and good governance as well as to strengthen accountability, transparency and human rights”.
The Maldives joined the commonwealth on 9 July 1982.
The previous administration of former President Abdulla Yameen reached the decision to leave the group in 2016 after claiming that the Commonwealth was “interfering” with the country’s domestic affairs. However, the incumbent government made it a key pledge to rejoin the group.
SG Scotland was formally presented with the documentation required “under the membership criteria” by FM Shahid during June this year.
The re-admission process is a four-step process that begins with the contender expressing interest to join the group which is then followed by an assessment taken by the SG. This is followed by the consultation of member states after which the applicant will be invited to make a formal submission.
The applicant is then required to provide official documents of “functioning of democratic processes and popular support in that country for joining the Commonwealth”.
