The Minister of Foreign Affairs participated in the meeting
of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action
Group
The role of the Group as an advisory body for all the member states
of the Commonwealth that face challenges in exercising, inter alia, democracy,
rule of law, freedom of expression and gathering, as well as independence of
judiciary, was examined during the 45 th Commonwealth Ministerial
Action Group (CMAG) meeting, held today in London, with the participation of the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Ioannis Kasoulides.
CMAG also examined the situation in Maldives, Swaziland, Lesotho and
Bangladesh.
During the meeting, Mr Kasoulides referred, inter alia, to the
dilemma that Commonwealth member states face, with which they are trapped to
focus exclusively either in the economic growth or the development of the
democratic principles. The Minister of Foreign Affairs characterized this
dilemma as incorrect, stressing that the two meanings, not only don’t they
invalidate, but on contrary, they are complementary. In reality, Mr Kasoulides
stressed, no economic growth could take place in the absence of a democratic
system, which functions in the context of the state of law. On the other hand,
he noted, a democratic system could not develop and prosper in the absence of a
viable economic growth.
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group consists of the Ministers
of Foreign Affairs of eight Commonwealth member states, as well as the Minister
of Foreign Affairs of the Government that hosts the Commonwealth Head of
Government Group Meeting (CHOGM). For the period of 2013-2015, the members of
GMAG are Cyprus, Guiana, Solomon Islands, Pakistan, India, Tanzania, Sierra
Leone, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. This Group deals with severe or persistent
violations of the fundamental political values of the Commonwealth, as they are
described in the Harare Commonwealth Declaration.
