Commonwealth has not responded to request for assistance to Inquiry Commission: President

The President’s Office has once again stated that Commonwealth has not responded to the government’s request for a legal expert to the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) established to investigate the transfer of power.

Spokesperson of President’s Office Abbas Adil Riza said today that questions have been posed by officials of Commonwealth in Maldives, regarding the news published by media yesterday indicating that Commonwealth had released a statement on this issue. He noted that the concerned employee of Commonwealth had not issued such a statement.

“Commonwealth denies the claim that they released a statement. They have indicated that they did not release a statement on 16 April. They have not officially responded to the government’s request. No Commonwealth office or employee has spoken to the government on this issue,” Riza said.

However, Communications and Public Affairs Specialist of Commonwealth Secretariat Geraldine Goh said in an email sent from their official email address to the Editor of Sun, “The following is a response from the Commonwealth Secretariat's Spokesperson Richard Uku to media queries on the issue of the legal expert and the Commission of National Enquiry (CNI).”

The statement included in the email said, “CMAG accordingly asked for the composition and terms of reference of the CNI to be reviewed in order to make them generally acceptable. Pending such a review, it was no longer deemed appropriate for the Commonwealth Secretariat to place a senior adviser within the Commission as constituted.”