Table of Contents
ABOUT COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS
The Commonwealth of Nations, at one time known as British Commonwealth, is an organisation of fifty three states that were principally below the colonial rule of British Government. They came into existence with the proclamation of sovereignty of the state from the colonial rule of British Empire and were later given self-governance
ABOUT COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS
It proclaims that the Commonwealth nations are “free and equal.” The insignia of this Commonwealth Association is Queen Elizabeth II who is considered the Supreme of the Commonwealth nations. The member states of the commonwealth are not legally liable or bound to each other. They are rather united by language, history, culture, likeness of the democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Their values are listed down within the Commonwealth Charter and the hands of harmony towards the member states are extended by the Commonwealth Games held every four years.
ABOUT COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS
Former British mandates that did not become members of the Commonwealth are Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, British Palestine, Sudan, British Somaliland, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates
MEMBERS OF COMMONWEALTH WHO HAVE NO CONNECTION TO BRITISH EMPIRE
The first member to be admitted without having any constitutional link to the British Empire or a Commonwealth member was Mozambique In 2009, Rwanda became the second Commonwealth member admitted not to have any such constitutional links.
COMMONWEALTH
A country can be out of commonwealth due to two reasons – Suspension or Termination
COMMONWEALTH
As membership is purely voluntary, member governments can choose at any time to leave the Commonwealth. Pakistan left on 30 January 1972 in protest at the Commonwealth’s recognition of breakaway Bangladesh, but rejoined on 2 August 1989.
COMMONWEALTH
Zimbabwe’s membership was suspended in 2002 on the grounds of alleged human rights violations and deliberate misgovernment, and Zimbabwe’s government terminated its membership in 2003.
COMMONWEALTH
The Gambia left the Commonwealth on 3 October 2013, and re-joined on 8 February 2018. The Maldives withdrew from the Commonwealth on 13 October 2016.
NOTES
Following the election of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as president in November 2018, the Maldives announced its intention to reapply to join the Commonwealth.
MALDIVES AND COMMONWEALTH
Mr Solih has now requested to rejoin the Commonwealth, writing last week to Commonwealth secretary-general Patricia Scotland to outline his government’s commitment to rejoin the bloc. The Maldives, a former British colony, first joined the Commonwealth in 1982.
RE-JOINING PROCESS
It is not down to the Queen whether the Maldives should be allowed to rejoin, as the role of Head of the Commonwealth is largely symbolic. There is instead a Secretary-General who represents the Commonwealth and is in charge of communication between member states. The Commonwealth secretary-general is Patricia Scotland. According to the official Commonwealth website: “The Secretary-General is responsible for representing the Commonwealth publicly and is the Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Secretariat which supports dialogue and collaboration between member governments at the intergovernmental level.”
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