Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni underscored the need for upholding the positive spirit of the new mandate of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) when discussing the modalities for implementation of the Report on Strengthening the Role of CMAG.
The Report was endorsed by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia in October 2011.
The foreign minister was leading the Bangladesh delegation at the 37th meeting of CMAG in London on 16 April 2012, a foreign ministry press statement said in the capital Dhaka on Tuesday.
During this meeting, the Commonwealth Ministers also discussed regarding the proposal of the Eminent Persons Group of the Commonwealth for establishment of a Commonwealth Commissioner for Democracy, the Rule of Law and Human Rights.
CMAG reviewed the prevailing political situations in Fiji and the Maldives. The Bangladesh Foreign Minister welcomed the lifting of Public Emergency Regulations (PER) in Fiji and noted the announcement by Fijian government of the roadmap for elections in the year 2014.
She called for a free and transparent process that would ensure participation of all stakeholders in the public consultations to be conducted by the Constitution Commission and in the composition of the Constituent Assembly which would draft a new Constitution for the country.
As regards Maldives, the Bangladesh Foreign Minister underscored the need for CMAG to ascertain the circumstances of the transition in the Maldives and the need for ensuring credibility of the National Inquiry Commission. She stressed the importance of continued engagement of the Commonwealth with the Maldives for strengthening the democratic institutions in the country, especially in the capacity-building of sectors like Parliament, Judiciary and the Election Commission.
CMAG, the nine-member group of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers, was established as part of the Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme adopted during 1995 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in New Zealand to deal with serious or persistent violations of the political values contained in the Harare Declaration 1991.
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth in 2011 endorsed the recommendation of the CMAG that henceforth CMAG should be the custodian of the political values as set out in the Affirmation of the Commonwealth Values and Principles 2009 and that CMAG becomes more pro-active and constructive in dealing with full range of violations of Commonwealth values and principles through measures including preventive ones and addressing structural deficiencies in member states.
Currently, Bangladesh is a member of this group for the second two-year term along with eight other countries namely Australia, Canada, Jamaica, the Maldives (participation in CMAG currently kept in abeyance), Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu.
BBN/SSR/AD-17Apr12-4:02 pm (BST)
