A high powered Contact Group is in Fiji to review the country’s progress toward elections and democratic rule.
The group, made up of Australian and New Zealand Foreign Ministers Stephen Smith and Winston Peters, Samoan and Tongan Prime Ministers Sailele Tuila’epa and Dr Feleti Sevele and Tuvalu’s Communications and Tourism Minister Taukelina Finikaso, met with the interim Prime Minister and some members of his interim cabinet at 8.30am at the PM’s Office at Government Buildings in Suva.
Prior to the meeting, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he would question Fiji's interim government on plans to restore democracy when he meets the government delegation.
Smith who is the first Australian Minister to visit Fiji after the December 2006 military takeover has called on the interim government to honor its faithful and unconditional commitment to hold a democratic election in the first quarter of 2009.
Prior to his arrival in Fiji NZ Foreign Minister Winston Peters told ABC Radio that the ministers would prepare a report on their talks with Interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama and will discuss the situation at the Pacific Islands Leaders Forum in Niue next month.
After the meeting, which ran for approximately two hours, the New Zealand Foreign Minister said that the meeting went well.
“It was a very useful meeting and I think that the chairman of our group will tell you so will the interim Prime Minister,” Peters said.
” It was as you’d expect it to be – serious business: Serious concerns were raised. Other than that I thought it was very worthwhile and, I think, all the members will think that as well.”
But he said that the Contact Group needed to evaluate what happened at the meeting and meet more people.
“We’ve got to evaluate what we heard here and think about it… We’ve got to see a lot more people here before we come to any sort of conclusion or rush to judgment,” Peters said.
The Ministerial Contact Group have a set mandate to follow while compiling a report on their meetings held with Interim Government stakeholders today.
Foreign Affairs Minister for Tonga, Sonatane Taumoepeau-Tupou has confirmed that the group will compile a report when meetings end tomorrow.
“We will collate all our information and make a report for the leaders. We have a set mandate so we can’t deviate too much from it,” Taumoepeau-Tupou said.
Meanwhile, the Forum Ministerial Contact group has been informed by the Elections Office that a timetable to hold general elections in Fiji cannot be set at this stage.
The Contact Group was also scheduled to meet with the Electoral Commission and the National Council for Building a Better Fiji.
At the meeting with the Electoral Commission, which was held at 2PM, the Contact Group asked when Fiji would be ready to hold elections.
Speaking to Fijivillage after the meeting, Electoral Commission chairman M.K.Khan said the elections timetable cannot be set at present.
“They asked us: Would you be able to give us a timeframe? But we said the only time we can give a timeframe is when the Electoral Reforms take place. We don’t know what reforms are taking place by the government of the day,” M. K. Khan said.
Khan said any action that would contradict the reforms would waste taxpayer’s money.
“Once the reforms are in place then we can say: we are ready now! If we take any action now that would be contrary to the reforms that would be a waste of the tax payers money,” he said.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who along with the Australian Foreign Minister are in Fiji for the first time since December 5, 2006, also said the meeting with the Elections Office was informative.
And when asked how their respective governments could assist the Elections Office, Peters said they needed to consult others in authority in Fiji on the matter.
“We’ve received information about where they are, what they’re doing and also the problems that they’re facing,” Sir Winston Peters said. “So it was a good informed meeting and that’s been a longstanding commitment but the reality is that this office is about organizing the logistics - about the voter’s right to vote, getting on the roll and where they’ll vote. Other than that they have to stick to their business and that question lies elsewhere.”
The Contact then went on to meet with the National Council for Building a Better Fiji. Spokesperson Filimoni Kau earlier said the NCBBF was looking forward to meeting the Contact Group.
The Contact Group is visiting Fiji to ensure that the country is on track to have elections in March next year as promised by Bainimarama in the Pacific Islands Leaders Forum in Tonga in October last year.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that there are currently no plans for Smith and Bainimarama to hold private talks however, the two leaders will attend a meeting together with other leaders.
Peters Optimistic About Fiji Elections Publish date/time: 14/07/2008 [17:23]
For the first time since the events of December 5th, 2006, the Foreign Affairs Ministers from Australia and New Zealand will set foot in Fiji later today as part of the Ministerial Contact group to hold discussions with the interim government tomorrow.
And as New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters prepares to arrive in Fiji this afternoon he remains optimistic that Fiji will hold elections in the first quarter of 2009.
Peters said New Zealand upholds the standards of democracy internationally, but they have to see if they can restore democracy in Fiji or assist in that happening.
In a statement, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said the meeting tomorrow will provide an important opportunity to assess progress towards the holding of elections and to engage in constructive dialogue.
Meanwhile, the agenda and the terms of reference for dialogue between the interim government and the Ministerial Contact Group has been finalized this afternoon ahead of the talks tomorrow.
Interim Foreign Affairs Minister Ratu Epeli Nailatikau confirmed that only selected members of the interim cabinet have been included in the meet. He also confirmed the Ministerial Contact Group will not meet any other stakeholders or interested parties while in Fiji.
“It’s complete and they will be seeing the Prime Minister and some members of the Cabinet. They will meet in the Cabinet Office,” Ganilau said. “As far as I know, as far the communiqué that was put out regarding the ministerial contact – they’re here to talk to the government.”
The Ministerial Contact Group consists of the Foreign Affairs Minister of Australia Stephen Smith, his New Zealand counterpart Winston Peters, Samoan Prime Minister Sailele Tuila'epa, Tongan Prime Minister Feleti Sevele and Tuvalu Communications and Tourism Minister Taukelina Finikaso.
The group leaves Fiji on Wednesday.
