Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group
Encyclopedia
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration, abbreviated to CMAG, is a group of representatives of members of the Commonwealth of Nations
that is responsible for upholding the Harare Declaration
. That Declaration dictates the Commonwealth's fundamental political values, and sets the core membership criteria of the organisation. Its remit to evaluate the Harare Declaration lapses every two years; the remit must be renewed and its membership reviewed by the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
.
CMAG was established in November 1995 at Millbrook Resort
, in Queenstown
, New Zealand
, as a result of the Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme
, to punish serious or persistent violations of the Harare Declaration. It is composed of the Foreign Minister
s (or equivalent) of eight Commonwealth member states, which may be augmented by either one or two further representatives of a region or interest involved in a particular case. There have been twenty-seven ordinary meetings, two special meetings, and one extraordinary meeting, called unevenly over the past twelve years. For logistical reasons, 29 of the 30 meetings have been held in either London
(headquarters of the Commonwealth) or New York City
(headquarters of the United Nations
).
s of The Gambia
, Nigeria
, and Sierra Leone
, and approved of the Commonwealth's suspension of Nigeria from the organisation earlier in the year. These three countries would form the mainstay of the work of CMAG, and form the whole of its reports, until the 1999 coup d'état in Pakistan
necessitated it to vote unanimously to suspend Pakistan from the Commonwealth. Nigeria's reintegration was deemed complete by 1999, when its suspension was lifted; indeed, it was chosen to be a member of CMAG prior to the thirteenth meeting.
In 2000, the situations in Fiji
and the Solomon Islands
were put under permanent scrutiny, as was that in Zimbabwe
in 2001. Gambia was taken off the group's formal agenda at the seventeenth meeting. Due to its acrimonious withdrawal from the Commonwealth in 2003, the issue of Zimbabwe, which had dominated the affairs of the Commonwealth since 2001, became moot and was not discussed from 2004 onwards, while Fiji was taken off the agenda due to encouraging progress in that country's political progress.
At its twenty-fourth meeting, in September 2004, it was decided that (at least in principle) CMAG should meet once a year, and preferably in New York. An extraordinary meeting was called for the 8 December 2006 in light of the 2006 coup d'état
, at which it was decided to suspend Fiji's membership of the Commonwealth.
On 12 November 2007, the Commonwealth gave Pakistan a 10-day deadline to restore its constitution and lift other emergency measures or face suspension. By 22 November 2007, the CMAG voted to suspend Pakistan from Commonwealth Membership.
's country. These have been, successively, Nigeria
, Malta
, Uganda
, and Trinidad and Tobago
.
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
that is responsible for upholding the Harare Declaration
Harare Declaration
The Harare Commonwealth Declaration was a declaration of the Commonwealth of Nations, setting out the Commonwealth's core principles and values, detailing the Commonwealth's membership criteria, and redefining and reinforcing its purpose. The Declaration was issued in Harare, Zimbabwe, on 20...
. That Declaration dictates the Commonwealth's fundamental political values, and sets the core membership criteria of the organisation. Its remit to evaluate the Harare Declaration lapses every two years; the remit must be renewed and its membership reviewed by the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, , is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations. Every two years the meeting is held in a different member state, and is chaired by that nation's respective Prime Minister or President, who becomes the...
.
CMAG was established in November 1995 at Millbrook Resort
Millbrook Resort
Millbrook Resort is a luxury resort near Queenstown, New Zealand. It is located 4 kilometres to the west of the historic gold-mining town of Arrowtown...
, in Queenstown
Queenstown, New Zealand
Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains....
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, as a result of the Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme
Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme
The Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme on the Harare Declaration, sometimes abbreviated to just Millbrook, is a policy programme of the Commonwealth of Nations, designed to implement and uphold the Harare Declaration, which sets out the basic political membership criteria of the Commonwealth...
, to punish serious or persistent violations of the Harare Declaration. It is composed of the Foreign Minister
Foreign minister
A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
s (or equivalent) of eight Commonwealth member states, which may be augmented by either one or two further representatives of a region or interest involved in a particular case. There have been twenty-seven ordinary meetings, two special meetings, and one extraordinary meeting, called unevenly over the past twelve years. For logistical reasons, 29 of the 30 meetings have been held in either London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(headquarters of the Commonwealth) or New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(headquarters of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
).
History
In its first meeting, CMAG decided that its initial focus would be upon the three (then-)military dictatorshipMilitary dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
s of The Gambia
The Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, and Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, and approved of the Commonwealth's suspension of Nigeria from the organisation earlier in the year. These three countries would form the mainstay of the work of CMAG, and form the whole of its reports, until the 1999 coup d'état in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
necessitated it to vote unanimously to suspend Pakistan from the Commonwealth. Nigeria's reintegration was deemed complete by 1999, when its suspension was lifted; indeed, it was chosen to be a member of CMAG prior to the thirteenth meeting.
In 2000, the situations in Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
and the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
were put under permanent scrutiny, as was that in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
in 2001. Gambia was taken off the group's formal agenda at the seventeenth meeting. Due to its acrimonious withdrawal from the Commonwealth in 2003, the issue of Zimbabwe, which had dominated the affairs of the Commonwealth since 2001, became moot and was not discussed from 2004 onwards, while Fiji was taken off the agenda due to encouraging progress in that country's political progress.
At its twenty-fourth meeting, in September 2004, it was decided that (at least in principle) CMAG should meet once a year, and preferably in New York. An extraordinary meeting was called for the 8 December 2006 in light of the 2006 coup d'état
2006 Fijian coup d'état
The Fijian coup d'état of December 2006 occurred as a continuation of the pressure which had been building since the military unrest of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état and 2005-2006 Fijian political crisis....
, at which it was decided to suspend Fiji's membership of the Commonwealth.
On 12 November 2007, the Commonwealth gave Pakistan a 10-day deadline to restore its constitution and lift other emergency measures or face suspension. By 22 November 2007, the CMAG voted to suspend Pakistan from Commonwealth Membership.
Membership
Since 2003, the group has included the eight members, plus a representative of the Commonwealth Chairperson-in-OfficeCommonwealth Chairperson-in-Office
The Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office is the Chairperson-in-Office of the Commonwealth of Nations, and is one of the main leadership positions in the Commonwealth...
's country. These have been, successively, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, and Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
.
| Year | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | Ex officio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 |
 Jamaica |
 Canada |
 New Zealand |
 Malaysia |
 United Kingdom |
 South Africa |
 Ghana |
 Zimbabwe |
V A C A N T |
| 1997 |
 Barbados |
 Botswana |
|||||||
| 1999 |
 Australia |
 Nigeria |
 Bangladesh |
||||||
| 2002 |
 The Bahamas |
 Samoa |
 India |
 Malta |
|||||
| 2003 |
Canada |
 Lesotho |
 Tanzania |
 Sri Lanka |
Nigeria |
||||
| 2005 |
 Saint Lucia |
 Papua New Guinea |
Malaysia |
United Kingdom |
Malta |
||||
| 2007 |
New Zealand |
 Namibia |
Ghana |
 Uganda |
|||||
| 2009 |
Jamaica |
Australia |
Bangladesh |
 Vanuatu |
 Maldives |
 Trinidad and Tobago |