By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – Fiji’s interim prime minister says he will try to avoid suspension from the Commonwealth after it threatened to remove Fiji from the group if the interim government did not take steps to hold democratic elections.

The Commonwealth threatened to suspend Fiji from the group after the country’s interim PM, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, refused to restore democracy by May 2009 as originally promised. The Commonwealth has given Bainimarama until September 1st to hold elections.

In response, Bainimarama says he wrote a letter to the Commonwealth, in which he expressed his desire to hold elections sooner. He also insists that representatives from the Commonwealth visit Fiji to get a “better picture” of the political situation.

Meanwhile, Sir Paul Reeves, a co-architect of Fiji’s abrogated 1997 Constitution, was supposed to have hosted a Commonwealth team earlier this month, but that time proved inconvenient for the interim government.

The interim government proposed an alternative date of August 29th, but the Commonwealth declined because of its proximity to the September 1st ultimatum.

Bainimarama has yet to set a date for the review.

For more information, please see:
Fiji Broadcast Limited – Fiji’s Presidency and parliamentary systems to be reviewed – 23 August 2009

Radio Australia News – Fiji’s interim PM aims to avert suspension from Commonwealth – 22 August 2009

China View –  Fiji awaits Commonwealth word on suspension – 21 August 2009

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – The Commonwealth Secretary General says that Fiji’s interim government should resume its discussion of the President’s political dialogue forum.

The forum would address Fiji’s position in the group since the Commonwealth has threatened to suspend Fiji unless the interim prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, makes progress toward holding democratic elections.

Bainimarama had planned to hold the forum to discuss Fiji’s position among South Pacific nations, but Commonwealth Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma, says it is unclear when the forum will take place.

“At some point it was announced that this process was being not pursued anymore, and what CMAG is saying, is that it should be revived, but with a very clear target of elections in October next year,” Sharma said.

Meanwhile, Bainimarama says he will consider the Secretary General’s request to restart discussions on holding the President political dialogue.

“My government will consider the proposal of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to revive the President’s Political Dialogue Forum. And I will provide an answer to that suggestion – when [I] write to the Secretary General and the UN Secretary General,” Bainimarama said.

The interim PM added that if the Commonwealth chooses to suspend Fiji from the group, there is nothing the interim government can do.

The Commonwealth has given Bainimarama until September 1st to develop a plan for elections, otherwise, the country will be suspended from the group.

For more information, please see:
FBCL – PPDF will continue says PM – 10 August 2009

Radio New Zealand International – Commonwealth Secretary General says political dialogue in Fiji essential – 09 August 2009

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – Prime Ministers from Australia and New Zealand are speaking out against a call for Fijians to rise up against the country’s military regime.

Last week, at the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Cairns, Niue Premier, Toke Talagi, told the people of Fiji that if they want to restore democracy, they must rise up and claim it for themselves.

“The people of Fiji must be responsible for constructing their own destiny,” Talagi said. He added, “I wonder, sometimes, whether people realise you can’t shoot 500,000 Fijians.”

Meanwhile, New Zealand and Australia have shown their disapproval of Talagi’s message, despite their condemnation of Fiji interim PM, Commodore Frank Bainimarama for delaying democratic elections.

Mr. John Key, New Zealand PM, told reporters that he would not support Fijians in an uprising against the interim government.

“We have encouraged Frank Bainimarama to engage with former leaders in Fiji…and we think that’s the right course of action, not some sort of uprising against the military coup,” Key said.

Australian PM, Kevin Rudd, said “I would emphasise in absolutely clear-cut terms the importance of a peaceful solution to the problems which exist within Fiji.” He added, “They are real problems and that is one of the reasons why the countries of the Pacific Islands Forum agreed on a mechanism for the suspension of Fiji.”

But Talagi says he was not pushing violence, but rather, hoped the people of Fiji would find a way to peacefully protest the military regime.

The Pacific Islands Forum, an organization of Pacific leaders from 16 nation states, chose to suspend Fiji from the group after Bainimarama refused to hold elections by May 2009 as originally promised.

For more information, please see:
National Business Review – Key plays down call for uprising in Fiji – 06 August 2009

ABC News – Rudd plays down call for Fijian uprising – 05 August 2009

New Tang Dynasty Television – Pacific Leaders Express Concern over Fiji – 05 August 2009