NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Shyam Bhatia in London
Pakistan's recently concluded national and provincial elections are to be reviewed by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, also known as CMAG, when it meets at Marlborough House in London this coming Friday.
CMAG comprises Foreign Ministers from Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Botswana (Chairman), India, Malta, Nigeria and Samoa.
Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon said the Group will review developments in the countries within its remit and in particular consider the Report of the Commonwealth Observer Group, which was present at the national and provincial assembly elections in Pakistan, held on 10 October 2002.
A spokesman for the Commonwealth Secretariat said that the Group's mandate from Commonwealth Heads of Government is to address serious or persistent violations of the Commonwealth's principles contained in the Harare Commonwealth Declaration and reinforced by the Millbrook Action Programme.
The Commonwealth's fundamental political values include respect for democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms including freedom of expression, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, and good governance in general.
This will be the twentieth meeting of CMAG since its establishment in 1995, and the second meeting of the Group since it was reconstituted in March 2002 at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Coolum, Australia.
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