Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid on Wednesday met with the members of the Commonwealth Second Assessment Mission.
The Assessment Mission is presently visiting Maldives to engage with important domestic stakeholders to assess the country's application to rejoin the Commonwealth.
During the meeting held at the Foreign Ministry, Minister Shahid reiterated the commitment of Maldives to promote and uphold the ideals of the Commonwealth, including the promotion of democratic norms and good governance in the country, as well as in strengthening accountability, human rights and transparency.
Minister Shahid stated that since the incumbent government came into office on November 2018, all efforts are undertaken to ensure that Maldives is able to rejoin the Commonwealth at the earliest possible opportunity.
He expressed hope that the Assessment Mission would make positive recommendations to the Secretary-General in favour of Maldives’ interest in rejoining the 53-country organisation.
Following the formal request made to the organisation by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in December 2018, the Commonwealth first conducted an assessment visit to Maldives in January this year, followed by an elections observer mission in April 2019.
Minister Shahid also met with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth recently in June 2019, when Maldives submitted the required documents requested by the Commonwealth Secretariat as part of the due process under the Kampala Communique.
The Commonwealth team recollected the enthusiasm and the commitment during their meetings with the various local stakeholders, and reaffirmed that Maldives was well on course to satisfy the required due process to rejoin the organisation.
The Commonwealth Second Assessment Mission was represented at the meeting by Senior Director, Governance and Peace Directorate of the Commonwealth Secretariat Katalina Saplou, Director-General Commonwealth Foundation Dr Anne Gallagher, Advisor for Trade Competitiveness, Trade, Oceans and Natural Resources Directorate of the Commonwealth Secretariat Sujeevan Perera, and by Jonathan Cheng, Political Officer for Asia/Europe of the Secretariat.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel, Ambassador-at-large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Asim Ahmed, Additional Secretary at the Foreign Ministry Javed Faizal, and Assistant Director Ahmed Salman Zaki participated in the meeting.
The Commonwealth Assessment Mission is visiting Maldives from August 25- 29, and have met with a number of domestic and diplomatic stakeholders as part of their assessment into Maldives’ application to rejoin the Commonwealth.
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