The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland welcomed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, Hon Abdulla Shahid and his delegation to Marlborough House yesterday, to discuss Maldives’ expression of interest to re-join the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland welcomed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, Hon Abdulla Shahid and his delegation to Marlborough House yesterday, to discuss Maldives’ expression of interest to re-join the Commonwealth.
The Secretary-General outlined the membership application process as agreed to by Commonwealth Heads of Government in Kampala in 2007. She advised the Minister of the scheduled Commonwealth Secretariat assessment mission she will deploy to Maldives from 28 January to 1 February, as part of the membership process.
Minister Shahid updated the Secretary-General on current developments in Maldives, and preparations for the forthcoming parliamentary elections to be held in April 2019.
The Minister highlighted the strong desire of both the government and the people of Maldives for a speedy return to the Commonwealth family. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to address the concerns and challenges the Commonwealth has raised with the previous administration, and would welcome Commonwealth support to work with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration in this regard.
* Maldives withdrew its membership from the Commonwealth in October 2016. Following the presidential elections in September 2018, the new government of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has placed as a priority issue the Maldives return to the Commonwealth family.