Pacific Islands Forum urged to continue negotiations with Fiji
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A leading Australian expert on Fijian politics has called for Pacific Islands Forum members to ensure contact with the interim government in Suva is maintained, ahead of key talks scheduled to take place in Papua New Guinea tomorrow.
Leaders of the Forum have begun arriving in Port Moresby for the meeting, which is expected to be dominated by Fiji's future within the organisation.
Fiji's attorney general, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, will attend on behalf of interim prime minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama.
Some analysts believe the Forum may take the unprecedented step of suspending Fiji's membership, or that substantial sanctions may be imposed to punish the interim government for failing to hold elections or take other steps to return Fiji to democratic rule.
Host nation leader Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare is reportedly against suspending Fiji from the Forum, and Radio Australia's reporter in Port Moresby, Firmin Nanol, says a delegation from the Forum is expected to travel to Suva after the summit for talks with Fiji's interim leader.
That approach is supported by Dr John Fraenkel, from the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University in Canberra, who told Pacific Beat that communication channels between Fiji and the rest of the Forum must stay open.
"One needs to bear in mind that the Forum-brokered talks are only one element in the effort to push discussion and dialogue," he said.
"There's also a Commonwealth and United Nations mission that went to Fiji last November and needs to go there again, and there'll be pressure there to come up with some sort of agreed timetable towards elections, some kind of negotiating forum that will bring in members of the deposed government, members of the Labour party, perhaps some of the other political parties.
"So there are a number of different efforts underway to get negotiations going."
Dr Fraenkel, who lived in Fiji for 11 years up until March 2007, says the decision by Commodore Bainimarama to remain in Fiji and co-ordinate flood relief efforts may reflect a misconception of the international community's perspectives on Fiji.
"He is indifferent both to international opinions on what's going on in Fiji and of course to domestic opinion, but you must remember that this is not an elected government," he said.
"He doesn't have to respond to public opinion in this way, and he's indifferent to the fact that many of the regional powers - not only Australia and New Zealand, but also Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga - believe he should be at this meeting and trying to plot some kind of direction forward with the leaders of the region."
