The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which met in New York on 29 September, has requested its chairman, Foreign Minister Michael Frendo, to visit Fiji to convey its concerns to the interim government on the current political situation in the country and report back to the group at its next meeting in Kampala in November.

The CMAG is composed of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers and the Commonwealth Secretary General. It deals with serious or persistent violations of the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values as laid out in the Harare Declaration and as amplified in the Millbrook Principles.

In December last year, following the military overthrow of the democratically-elected government in Fiji, CMAG suspended the Fiji Islands from the councils of the Commonwealth, pending the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in that country.

The CMAG also reviewed developments in Pakistan and received reports from Dr Frendo, after his visit to Pakistan in June and from the Secretary General, Don McKinnon, after his recent visit to the country.

The group welcomed the Commonwealth’s continued engagement with Pakistan with the objective of encouraging its return to full democracy and the maintenance of the rule of law and took note of the recent submissions by the Pakistani President’s legal counsel that the President would give up his role of chief of army staff by November 15 if he were to be elected for another term as President.