Member countries ok's Maldives to rejoin the Commonwealth

The Secretary General of the Commonwealth has informed the Government of Maldives that its member countries do not have any objections for the Maldives to re-join the organization.

Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the Secretary General (SG) sent a letter to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih informing of the decision the previous day. In the letter, the SG said the reports prepared by two assessment teams and the election observation mission, post their successful missions to the Maldives were shared with the member countries, and all member countries voted to approve the reports.

Therefore, the only steps remaining for the Maldives to re-join the Commonwealth is to complete the required procedures, the letter said. While the first steps to joining the Commonwealth are now complete, the Secretary General is encouraging to expedite the process to once again make Maldives a member country of the organization, he said in his letter.

The Maldives first joined the Commonwealth on 9th July 1982 during the tenure of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom. On 13th October 2016, during the tenure of Gayyoom's half brother Abdulla Yameen, the Maldives left the Commonwealth citing that the organization "sought to become an active participant in the domestic political discourse in the Maldives, which is contrary to the principles of the Charters of the UN and the Commonwealth".

While it is a presidential pledge of current president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to rejoin the Commonwealth, the government formally requested to rejoin the Commonwealth on December 6 last year.