Comment: Gloomy outlook for CMAG

Further down the street, I saw paint drying. I digress, but only to due to the fact that events outside of the 39th meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) were eminently more interesting than those occurring inside.

After a short meeting, the group released a bland statement which would have disappointed both Maldivians and Sri Lankans who waited outside, urging the group to take action against their respective governments. Neither country even made it onto the ‘official agenda’ disclosed to the public, with discussions on Fiji being the only content that saw the shifting light of day.

After an allegedly dramatic meeting in New York last September, the Maldives was informed that it would be allowed to resume its current (rotating) membership of the group “in the absence of any serious concerns”.