The Maldives has left The Commonwealth - a Maldives government spokesman complained that The Commonwealth had treated it unfairly in its scrutinisation of what was happening in the country following the effective coup in 2012 which removed the former president, Mohamed Nasheed. The Maldives government was warned on 23 September 2016 that the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) had given it 6 months to address concerns about the detention and prosecution of opposition leaders, meddling with the Judiciary and the undermining of democratic institutions. Like the governments of Zimbabwe and The Gambia before it, the Maldives government quit The Commonwealth to avoid the scrutiny and criticism of the other 52 Commonwealth members.
The country announced its departure from The Commonwealth on 13 October 2016 and this blog will not mention any Maldives stamps issued or purported to have been issued after that date. This is a relief since Maldives Post has allowed the notorious philatelic agency, Stamperija, to produce philatelic products in its name since 2013 and numerous items have been put on the market with the country's name printed on them since then. This leaves the issuing of the stamps of only 3 Commonwealth postal administrations in the clutches of Stamperija - Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands and Mozambique.
Elsewhere in The Commonwealth in Asia:-
Pos Malaysia issued a wonderful set of 3 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 9 October 2016 on the subject of Community postmen. The set was designed by Moho Kir of hazeldesign and printed in lithography. I love the image of a postman on horseback - what fun it would be to see my postman arriving on his horse with my post in the morning! Rating:- *****.
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