Pacific Islands Leaders have started to arrive at the 41st Pacific Islands Leaders Forum meeting venue in Port Villa Vanuatu in the next hour.
Pacific Islands Leaders are expected to discuss Fiji's future participation in the Pacific Islands Leaders Forum which gets underway in Port Villa, Vanuatu this morning.
In a statement, Secretary General for the Pacific Forum Secretariat Tuiloma Slade said topics up for discussion today include a report of the Ministerial Contact Group on Fiji amongst other issues.
It is also expected that Tongan Prime Minister Dr Feleti Sevele will also provide a report on his recent trip to Fiji where he held talks with Fiji government officials on the progress towards elections.
Also on the agenda will be the recent Engaging with the Pacific meeting hosted by Fiji where all Pacific leaders in attendance came out in support of Fiji's Strategic Framework for Change and Fiji's roadmap to democracy.
In recent weeks, Dr Sevele has also voiced his opinions on getting Fiji to be part of the Pacific Islands Forum again and has urged leaders to use the forum in Vanuatu to reach out to Fiji.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has also indicated that the Pacific Islands Leaders Forum's general tone should be to reaffirm the stance taken by the forum in pushing for elections in Fiji.
But as the Forum gets underway, key figures such as Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare will not be attending due to personal reasons, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Dr Derek Sikua is also not in Vanuatu due to elections in his country while Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is on the election campaign will be represented by her Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.
Both, Sir Michael Somare and Dr Sikua were instrumental in showing support for Fiji during the Engaging with the Pacific meeting.
The meeting proper starts this morning with the Leaders Retreat scheduled for tomorrow.
Story by: Roneel Lal
