Pacific Islands Forum leaders to discuss suspending Fiji soon
19/12/2008 16:52
Leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum members will meet in Papua New Guinea
(PNG) in January to discuss suspending Fiji from the group, the Suva-based
Pacnews reported today.
"The meeting's sole agenda item will be discussing
Fiji's progress toward a return to democracy," said the chairperson of the
forum, Niue Premier Toke Talagi.
Talagi said that the Forum leaders are not
sure if they can trust Fiji's interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank
Bainimarama, who has already broken a commitment to hold elections in March next
year.
"It's going to be hard for us to determine whether he's going to keep
his word again with any further promises that he's going to make," he
said.
The special leaders meeting is expected to be held on Jan. 27 next year
in Port Moresby.
In a related development, Bainimarama has accused New
Zealand and Australia of employing "bully-boy" tactics and in the process
frustrating the efforts of the interim government in moving Fiji
forward.
"Fiji very much recognizes and values the importance of maintaining
healthy, progressive and mutually rewarding bilateral, regional and
international relationships," Bainimarama said in a statement.
"In fact, we
have not had much difficulty in our relationships with many of our partners. It
is only the governments of Australia and New Zealand who have consistently
frustrated the efforts of the Interim Government through imposition of
arbitrary, inhumane and punitive travel bans," Bainimarama said.
Bainimarama
said that it is most concerning that these two countries are accepting names to
be added to the travel ban lists from local staff employed in their respective
missions with connections to people opposed to the interim regime, as well as a
handful of non-governmental organizations.
"Despite me having continuously
sought understanding and support from the governments of these two countries,
they have on an ongoing basis tended to provoke and frustrate us through
arbitrary imposition of travel bans," he said.
Xinhua
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