Pakistan has been suspended before, when President Pervez Musharraf seized power through a military coup. Photo / Reuters
Pakistan has been suspended before, when President Pervez Musharraf seized power through a military coup. Photo / Reuters
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KAMPALA - Commonwealth foreign ministers have suspended Pakistan from the Commonwealth for failing to meet a list of demands to address concerns about the country's ongoing political turmoil.
The eight-member Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) made the move after Pakistan failed to meet a list ofdemands laid out earlier this month by the foreign ministers in the hope of restoring peace and democracy in the troubled country.
"CMAG agreed that, notwithstanding some progress by the Pakistan government since its last meeting, the situation in Pakistan continued to represent a serious violation of the Commonwealth's fundamental political values," the foreign ministers said in a statement released at a midnight (local time) press conference in Kampala.
"CMAG regretted that the government of Pakistan had failed to implement the necessary measures set out in the CMAG statement of 12 November 2007.
"Accordingly, consistent with that decision, CMAG suspended Pakistan forthwith from the Councils of the Commonwealth, pending the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in that country."
It is the second time Pakistan has been suspended from the Commonwealth.
It last had its membership suspended between 1999 and 2004 when President Pervez Musharraf seized power through a military coup.
