Commonwealth panel puts Maldives on formal agenda

A Commonwealth disciplinary panel has placed Maldives once again on its formal agenda following repeated delays in the country's poll process in electing a new President.
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG, which met here on the sidelines of the CHOGM summit, expressed "deep disappointment" that the Maldives presidential election process had not concluded prior to the expiration of the President's term in office on November 11.
The Group noted that the breach of the November 11 constitutional deadline to inaugurate a new president followed repeated delays to the electoral process as a result of annulment by the Supreme Court of the first-round election on September 7 and the failure to proceed with three further elections on September 28, October 19 and November 10.

"In view of these recent developments, CMAG decided to place Maldives once again on its formal agenda," the group said in a statement yesterday.
CMAG urged presidential candidates, the security services and other state institutions to give their full co-operation to the Elections Commission so that it is free to carry out its constitutionally-mandated role and the people of Maldives are able to exercise their fundamental right to elect their president in a run-off between the top two candidates on November 16.
Ministers will continue to monitor the situation in Maldives closely over the coming days, the statement said.

The Chair of CMAG will brief Commonwealth Heads of Government on November 15, when they meet in Colombo, it said.

In a crucial vote on November 9, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) chief Nasheed bagged 46.4 per cent of the votes, a marginal increase from his previous tally of 45.45 per cent votes in the September 7 polls that were annulled by the Supreme Court.
Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) leader Abdullah Yameen made a significant gain of nearly five per cent over the 25.35 per cent of votes he secured in the annulled polls and managed 30.3 per cent of the votes.
Nasheed will face Yameen in the run-off to be held on November 16.