The 19th parliament has approved a motion to join the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).

The motion was passed with a unanimous vote from all 67 members present at today's sitting. The motion was presented by MP for Central Henveyru constituency, Ali Azim and was sponsored by MP for Feydhoo constituency, Mohamed Nihad.

The motion was submitted under article 241 of the 19th parliament's regulations, which states that the parliament is mandated to establish and maintain relations with international organisations and other parliamentary bodies.

The Maldives was re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations on February 1st of this year after a four year hiatus. Rejoining the commonwealth was one of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's key electoral pledges.

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. At the time, the Maldives had been a member of the commonwealth for 34 years.