No assistance before composition of Commission is reviewed: CMAG

Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) has said that they will not assist Maldives before the composition and terms of reference of the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) are reviewed.

While Ministry of Foreign Affairs had earlier said that CMAG had not responded to a request to provide expert assistance, CMAG released a statement today stating that it would not be appropriate to provide a senior advisor to the NCI when Commonwealth had not responded to the aforementioned request.

The statement also mentions that CMAG noted after the teleconference on 15 March that while CNI had commenced its work, it had failed to secure cross-party support. They had acknowledged that Commonwealth could be of potential assistance.

Following that meeting and the first visit to Maldives by the Secretary-General's Special Envoy Sir Donald McKinnon shortly thereafter, discussions were focused on attempting to facilitate agreement between parties on this matter.

At their meeting on 16 April, CMAG ministers expressed concern that the Government had not made any effort to revise the composition of the CNI such that its credibility would be enhanced.

“Pending such a review, it was no longer deemed appropriate for the Commonwealth Secretariat to place a senior adviser within the Commission as constituted,” reads the statement.

The statement also noted that the Secretary-General's Special Envoy and the Commonwealth Secretariat are in touch with the Government of Maldives about the CNI, and that Commonwealth is ready to assist the Commission as soon as broad-based political agreement is reached on its composition and terms of reference.