It is time to move forward without them.
Those were the words of interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama in his opening remarks at the third political forum as he informed political party leaders of the reasons why the SDL, NFP, UPP and the Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party have been excluded from the forum today.
Bainimarama stressed that Fiji can no longer wait for these parties to come onboard.
The meeting proper then got underway with discussions pertaining to the composition of the president’s political dialogue forum, the participation of the civil society organizations, the module for decision making, selection of the mediation team for the forum.
The interim Prime Minister stressed that these need to be finalized by this afternoon so that the UN and Commonwealth can be invited to commence the president’s dialogue forum.
End Of Road For Four Parties
The third Political Dialogue Forum started at the Nasova Police Academy this morning minus the leaders from the SDL, National Federation Party, United Peoples Party and Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party.
Speaking to Fijivillage News before going into the forum this morning, Interim Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama confirmed that the forum will go ahead without the four parties.
This is after the SDL, NFP, UPP and Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party had responded to the Interim Prime Minister's letter where he had asked for commitments from them by 4pm yesterday.
Bainimarama sought their commitment which include that they commit to electoral reforms which will do away with the communal representation and replace it with proportional representation, based on universally accepted principle of equal suffrage to ensure true parliamentary democracy. The Interim Prime Minister also wanted them to commit that they will not undermine national efforts to meet the economic challenges that have been brought about by the global economic crisis. They were also asked not to work with partisan media outlets and foreign countries to undermine national initiatives and efforts and for them to commit to expediting the political dialogue process with honesty.
Bainimarama said the responses from the SDL, NFP, UPP and Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo were unsatisfactory.
When asked whether there is any hope for more dialogue with the four parties, Bainimarama stressed that they will no longer be part of the process.
Former Prime Minister and SDL Leader, Laisenia Qarase, NFP General Secretary, Pramod Rae and Former Opposition Leader, Mick Beddoes have confirmed to Fijivillage News that they received phone calls from the PM's office last night informing them that they would not be allowed to attend the meeting.
Qarase, Rae and Beddoes are expected to have a press conference at the SDL office this hour. Stay with us for that.
Time to move forward: Bainimarama
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