Nine of the Pacific's 16 nations have called for Fiji to have its membership of the Pacific Forum restored.
The call, made in Nadi yesterday, comes ahead of this week's Pacific Forum summit in Auckland where New Zealand and Australia face diplomatic embarrassment, with the Forum set to give Fiji military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama a ringing endorsement - even without him being here.
Fiji has been suspended from the forum following Bainimarama's failure to restore democracy in the wake of the 2006 coup.
Prime Minister John Key, who will chair the 40th edition of the Pacific Forum, faces a Melanesian and Micronesian rebellion over his hard-line on Bainimarama, who seized power in a military coup in 2006.
Fiji hosted a shadow summit this week and in a communiqué the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu endorsed Bainimarama's plan to hold off having elections until 2014.
PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill endorsed the communiqué. As the country is the second largest nation in the forum - and the leading island nation - it is a victory for Bainimarama.
However it is not clear whether O'Neill will be in Auckland as PNG's founding prime minister, Sir Michael Somare, is due back in Port Moresby today and he claims he is the prime minister. He has spent months in a Singapore hospital for heart by-pass surgery.
It was believed he had retired, but he said on Thursday he had not, and he wants his job back.
In the shadow forum in Fiji, the nations attending said they endorsed Bainimarama's change plan "as a credible home grown process for positioning Fiji as a modern nation state and to hold parliamentary elections."
The grouping does not specially ask for Fiji to be returned to the forum fold, but in diplomatic language they recall "the importance of Fiji's continuous engagement with the region and its full participation in regional development initiatives and programmes."
In an unusual statement the Pacific leaders also endorsed Fiji's view that the international media do not report Bainimarama's achievements.
They said they "supported the need to publicise and disseminate more and accurate information on the Fiji government's progress..."
Pacific leaders will be handed evidence of overwhelming multi-racial public support in Fiji for Bainimarama and his martial law decrees which are seen as keeping order in the coup-prone nation.
The data comes on top of a WikiLeaks diplomatic cable revealing a top Australian politician telling the United States that "Bainimarama will either be shot or we'll have to do business with him".
The forum, in its 40th year, was intended to be a celebration for the organisation which first met in Wellington in 1971. From then until 1996 it was united in condemning French nuclear testing, but since then Fiji's woes have been the central focus. When Bainimarama failed to keep a promise to hold elections by April 2009, the country's membership in the forum was suspended. Bainimarama has said elections would be held in 2014.
Wellington and Canberra have maintained "smart" sanctions since 2006, hoping to force elections, believing it is the will of the majority of Fiji's 837,000 people (57% Fijian and 37% Indian).
However, remarkable data to be released to the forum, seen by the Sunday Star-Times, reveals strong support for Bainimarama and mounting public anger in Fiji toward New Zealand. Over two-thirds of both races support him, according to the data. There is even overwhelming support for his moves against the indigenous dominated Methodist Church.
A senior political figure admitted there was no surprise in the information. "We have expected it, but it does make it hard to decide what to do next."
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is due at the forum, although Australian media say she is facing a leadership spill as Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is tipped to return.
6 comments:
This shows how weak the MSG is.
I wonder what the evidence could be other than the deeply flawed form filling excise pushed by military offices to show the charter had support. Which then got ignored when it was not convenient eg throw out the constitution and ignore good governance when it comes to military
With all that support then surely they can let the media report away without a PER and people meet freely ?
Bottom line is they are not calling for Fiji to be reinstated. Despite being FBs captive at the msg they are all still fence sitting as only the pacific can do.
The the amazing presentation that convinced them all everything is going well in Fiji ? Do you think the media might be able to get their hands on that to share with the people of Fiji or perhaps it's a little to glowing and too far from the truth to be consumed by real people.
Croz,
I see you have not questioned the validity of Field’s story this time round. I have a question I live in Fiji and I am not aware nor are any of my friends or colleagues aware of any large scale polling recently. I think if such an exercise had been carried out someone would have heard of it. Could you ask your many sources if they have any information on the “remarkable data” quoted in the article?
The only polling exercise I can think of was over the people’s charter but that is now 3 years out of date. It was pre the abrogation of the constitution, pre attacks on the Methodist Church, pre the attacks on workers’ rights, pre the attacks on pensioner income, pre the massive rise in the cost of living.
Thanks
it must be so reassuring to have 'support' form regional nations with a history of stability and good governance. lets take PNG, the other begging bowl of the region, who is forever asking for 'help' and who lso came close to their own version of the coup culture with the 'sandline affair'.Lets see how they cope with a similar mutiny in their country. What is the bet the elite, all flee to Aus and expect support to 'free their country'. Perhaps the new military regime in PNG could try a clean up campaign there?? Interesting bedfellows. Nothing more curious than vanuatu, solomon islands, png, given their own histories, providing support to this regime. But that 'pacific politics' for you, no loyalty or consistency, but plenty of 'imperialists out' and quick to suck at the teat of china and others, thier fairweather friends.
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