Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. (René Descartes, mathematician and philosopher,1599-1650)

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Fiji Back in Pacific APC

Add caption
It’s a historic day today as Fiji has been included again in all levels of discussions and negotiations as part of the Pacific ACP.

This includes crucial trade talks with the ACP countries and the European Union.

The Pacific Islands Forum had decided in 2009 to suspend Fiji from taking part in these PACP talks.

However this has today been overturned with the 14 Pacific Island leaders agreeing to the proposal that Fiji should be allowed back in all levels of talks.   

Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama led a government delegation for the talks in Port Moresby today.

In an interview with Fijivillage from PNG in the last hour, Commodore Bainimarama said he is grateful that the decision has been made in Fiji’s favour. 

At the same time he said a major development has occurred where the Pacific ACP now has its own secretariat.   

There is an audio file attached to this story. Please login to listen. 

Commodore Bainimarama said the current Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna is also the Chair of the Pacific ACP.

There is an audio file attached to this story. Please login to listen. 

Permanent Secretary for Industry and Trade, Shaheen Ali said the decision signals the best way forward as the Pacific island countries work together on important trade negotiations.

Source: Fiji Village report.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your headline is a bit off. Fiji was never thrown out of the ACP group, but aid was and still is suspended because these EU bureaucrats cannot see the wonderful things this government does. The EU considers the regime a dictatorship and will suspend aid until there are free and fair elections.

%$#@! said...

oh yes... but now they get to talk with the adults at the table ...we would not want to measure what the actual outcomes will be, but the begging bowl has now an extra set of hands holding it. I was hoping that they would continue with the 'look north and get them to pay' strategy. Lipstick on a pig....

Blah Blah said...

Rhetoric and grandstanding do not feed the increasing number of poor under this military dictatorship. The reality is that Fiji under the junta is a lame duck - Bainimarama's involvement in the MSG proved that. Ego stroking of dictator's like the fool Bainimarama is just public wanking. As are the idiot cut and paste comments of junta supporting fools like walsh.

Joe said...

did we ever have a "free and fair" election in Fiji?

navosi45 said...

@ Joe... i am not convinced one bit that even if you took 'alleged anomolies' out of the last election, there would be any material difference to the actual result!!! Croz never seems to dispute this but moves quickly on to corruption as an issue which was and STILL IS an issue that this regime is having no better job of dealing with. I don't recall there being street marching and/or protesters in the streets wreaking havoc over the results of the last election do YOU? But despite this, a moving feast of pretexts were used to usurp the elected government and this regime with all the outstanding allegations against them that can't be challenged in any court, claim THEY are the solution??

Anonymous said...

Blah Blah must be anxious he may join Qarase at his present place of residence should more skeltons be turned...... racism, discrimiantion, poliices which the elites have been using as free riders thinking it is their fathers rigtt need to chnage, no , they MUST be changed.... majority i-taukei are poor because few i-taukei are rolling in the cream and not sharing...... Bainimara as such is not public wanking, he sees through you and all others who have taken for granted the sweat and blood of others and do not want to let go so that others can partake in ..........! Intellectuals use their minds to set up sites like this to share... and the junta support Bainimarama.....come elections and you will see...and yes, by contributing, you help clarify that you value the views therein and have used your quality time to put pen to paper, even if in a spoilt kiddish way....

Joe said...

"alleged anomolies"??? interesting. How do you explain a voter turn out >100% in a given constituency? What about census? Isn't that a requirement, or wasn't that a requirement under the 1997 constitution? I am convinced that if the 06 election was "free and fair", a few national seat results would have gone the other way, eg Lavenia Padarath's. On the contrary, thank God MC did not get in again. Whether you like it or not, the current govt is the only solution for Fiji. I hope Frank is PM forever.

Crosbie Walsh said...

The text clarified ... "included again in all levels..."

navosi45 said...

@ Joe...so even if we follow your argument that the during the election a few seats could/would have gone the other way, you still would have had either a Qarase or Chaudry government. What would have been the material change to anything?? I still did not see any voter backlash or riots in the streets from people who felt disenfranchised, did you?

Joe said...

@navosi45..... I dont think anyone felt disenfranchised. My point was >100% voter turnout, which equates to "overenfranchised", and the census issue. Either way, both of these crooks are disastrous for Fiji.

Anonymous said...

so on the basis that a few people were moaning about the results of either party winning, we got bainimarama launched a coup or four on that pretext as well as 'corruption'. The same corruption he finds everywhere he cares to look in fiji right to this day and yet he doesn't appear to accept that this is happening under his watch and with his appointees, no sir baby, can't blame Qarase for this stuff now.What we can say is, there is no claim of some organised system of trying to rob th election as even if ther was 120% voter turnout it didn't rob anyone of the result they expected. The ONLY people unhappy with this appears to be the military who were quite disinclined to accept civilian oversight and restraint on their ballooning budget.

Anonymous said...

I've read some good stuff here. Definitely price bookmarking
for revisiting. I wonder how much effort you place to make one of these excellent informative website.