Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group Holds Press Conference

    The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) held its 39^th meeting yesterday (26).The meeting was Chaired Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister, Dr Dipu Moni, and reviewed developments of the only nation on the CMAG agenda, Fiji.

At a news conference after the meeting yesterday the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group said it was not up to them but up to the heads of Commonwealth governments to decide the venue for the summit in November and they had already chosen Sri Lanka.

The official Concluding Statement welcomed the recent reaffirmation of the Commonwealth’s commitment to democracy, human rights, the rule of law, separation of powers, freedom of expression, good governance, tolerance, respect and understanding and the role of civil society, and outlined CMAG’s intention of helping Fiji’s reinstatement at the commonwealth.

A press brief by the Commonwealth Secretary General Mr Kamalesh Sharma, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr Dipu Moni and Vice-Chair of CMAG Senator Bob Carr, followed the meeting.

Despite several reminders from the panel that the Fiji was the only nation on the CMAG agenda, the panel received a barrage of questions that probed the Commonwealth’s relationship with Sri Lanka.

Read the full transcript of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group Press Conference.