No agreement reached on nominee to CNI: Commonwealth

The Commonwealth has denied claims that the government and Commonwealth had agreed on the nominee of former President Nasheed to the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI), and urged to preserve confidentiality on this matter.

In a statement released by the Commonwealth Secretariat today, they noted the comments by the Press Secretary of the President of Maldives regarding the nominee of former President Nasheed to the CNI, and said that the discussions between the Commonwealth Special Envoy, Rt Hon Sir Donald McKinnon, the Government of Maldives and former President Nasheed on the appointment of a representative of Nasheed to the Commission are still ongoing; and that no nominee has as yet been agreed upon between these parties.

The statement quoted Sir Donald, “It is imperative that confidentially is preserved while these sensitive discussions are ongoing in order to provide space for the parties to reach a desirable outcome.”

Nasheed had expressed concern to the Commonwealth following the release of his last nominee to CNI to the media.

The government had stated that the latest nomination by Nasheed is Minister of Finance of Nasheed’s administration Mohamed Shihab’s daughter, Manal Shihab. The government stated that this nominee had been accepted by the government as well as the Commonwealth - a statement denied by MDP.

A statement by MDP said that it had been agreed between the government and Commonwealth, that if the government accepts a nomination by Nasheed, Nasheed should be consulted by the government before the information is released to the media.

The government said that Nasheed withdrew Manal as his nominee soon after it was announced that the government had accepted this nomination.