Attorney General Muhammad Anil have said that, the government decided to leave Commonwealth because they were treating unjustly against Maldives.
Speaking at the press conference held at the President’s Office to inform the public about the government’s decision to leave Commonwealth Anil said that the President made the decision according the powers granted to him by the constitution.
Anil said that in 2012, when Nasheed resigned, even without inquiring about the incident, Commonwealth hurried to take action against Maldives. “After an investigation done with the involvement of Commonwealth it was proven that there was no wrong doing. Maldives was in the agenda for 8 months. By then we suffered immense losses already” said Anil.
Anil said that the Maldives is an independent nation and all independent nations are sovereign according to the UN charter. He said that the Commonwealth also should operate based on these values and they cannot violate the sovereignty of an independent nation. Anil said that the Commonwealth has been requesting the government to influence court cases in the Maldives. He said that the government refused to do that. In addition, Anil said that government always try to solve problems with legal complications via the parliament.
“They are asking for good governance. Then they are asking to influence the court decisions. We have told them that the government cannot do it. We told them that cases in the courts can only proceed based on the judicial procedures” said Anil.
Anil said that the three branches, powers of the government are separated in the Maldives and Maldives will continue that way. In addition, he said that the Commonwealth promised to assist Maldives for a 2-year period to bring some reforms in the governance sector but later demanded to bring reforms within 6 months. He said that even with this pressure, Maldives wanted to work with Commonwealth. He said that the government welcomed all their representatives, gave access to all the documents they asked for and even let them meet whoever they wanted to meet. Anil said that the government cooperated with Commonwealth in all ways possible.
Decided to leave Commonwealth because Maldives was treated unjustly: Anil
