Prime Minister John Key said there had been a unanimous decision to expel Fiji from the Pacific Forum, despite several nations recently breaking from the consensus and announcing their support for the military regime.

Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), said this morning self-appointed interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama had “won their support for lifting the suspension”, the Solomon Times Online reported.

PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare said he was convinced some of Cmdre Bainimarama’s plans were good for Fiji.

Leaders from the MSG said they would take Fiji’s case to their peers at the Pacific Islands Forum in Cairns, Australia next month.

Mr Key said there was a desire to see a solution in Fiji by all those who has reached the unanimous decision to expel it.

“All 16 countries in the forum want to see a solution, but the question is what that solution will be.”

Cmdre Bainimarama had not engaged in dialogue with the other political stakeholders, Mr Key told reporters.

“From New Zealand’s point of view, it’s not just a conclusion or an outcome we want to see, it’s an enduring outcome.

“But I don’t think there’s any desire to revisit the decision we made which was to suspend Fiji from the Pacific Forum,” Mr Key said.

Source: NZPA

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2589626/Key-firm-on-Fiji-expulsion

Fiji will have a new constitution by 2013 that will open the way for free and fair democratic elections the following year, the country’s controversial leader says.

But Frank Bainimarama’s optimistic “road map” for his nation, unveiled on Wednesday, was met with scepticism by some Pacific commentators who have labelled it “disappointing” and “lacking in substance”.

The speech, entitled “A strategic framework for change”, is the first to detail Fiji’s future since Bainimarama’s regime tore up the country’s constitution in April and installed a new order with heavy sanctions on free speech.

The military government has been in power since it staged Fiji’s fourth coup in December 2006 and has broken several promises to take the country to the polls since, citing a need to first overhaul the race-based voting system.

In his speech, Bainimarama said work on the new constitution would not start until 2012 and would be finished within a year ahead of September 2014 election.

“The new constitution must include provisions that will entrench common and equal citizenry, it must not have ethnic-based voting,” he said.

Currently, Fijians can only vote for candidates standing in seats matched to their ethnicity, a system widely regarded as flawed.

The constitution would be based on the People’s Charter, a document Bainimarama says draws widely from community opinion.

“It must have systems that hold governments accountable with more checks and balances.”

The voting age would be lowered from 21 to 18, and reviews would be held on the government’s five-year term, the number of seats and the need for a Senate.

He also signposted a “radical overhaul” of the nation’s complex land tenure system in a country where more than 90 per cent of all land remains under the ownership of indigenous Fijians.

Bainimarama also appealed for help in the process from the international community, which has been widely critical of his non-consultative military style.

Two key bodies, the Commonwealth and the Pacific Islands Forum, suspended Fiji’s membership earlier this year.

“My appeal to the international community is that Fiji has and continues to seek engagement, not disengagement,” the leader said.

Professor Brij Lal, an ANU academic who helped draft the 1997 constitution, said the speech was “disappointing in the sense that it was full of platitudes but with very few concrete proposals about returning Fiji to democracy”.

He said it put the cart before the horse, in that it focused on trying to improve the economy before improving political stability.

“It’s also obviously trying to entice back international support, but that’s unlikely to work,” Prof Lal said.

Meanwhile, heavy censorship remains in place, with officials installed in newsrooms to vet media coverage and government critics banned from speaking at conferences.

A Methodist Church congress was cancelled by the regime, and several journalists have been held without charge or expelled from the country.

Source: http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/fiji-constitution-still-years-away-2821391

Copyright © 2008, Television New Zealand Limited

By MICHAEL FIELD – Stuff.co.nz:

Fiji’s military regime has banned a prominent critic from taking part in an international youth congress.

The move against the Pacific Youth Festival comes ahead of a planned announcement on Wednesday by dictator Voreqe Bainimarama on the country’s future.

Fiji will next month host the Unesco backed Pacific Youth Festival, which will see 600 delegates from 30 countries and territories take part in a week-long series of events.

Bainimarama has imposed martial law on Fiji and recently banned selected speakers at the Society of Accountant’s annual meeting and ordered the cancellation of the Methodist Church annual conference.

The military has also imposed tight media censorship.

No announcement has officially been made on the youth festival, but one of the banned speakers is the Fiji Times associate editor Sophie Foster.

In May she spoke at a Fiji Women’s Rights Movement event and warned that a “dangerous, pregnant silence” had fallen on Fiji.

She gave a vivid account of censors operating in the newsroom and how news of any trace of disaffection was kept from publication.

But, she said, people knew what was happening.

“In their own circles, their own communities, these people talk. They complain. And they pass their frustrations on to others. The danger is when these frustrations build up with no vent, or they reach people for whom there seems to be nothing left to gain or lose,” Foster said.

The chairwoman of the festival’s organising committee, Jacque Koroi, said the military had vetted their speaker’s list and banned some participants.

Meanwhile, Bainimarama will tomorrow unveil his plans for a new constitution and elections in September 2014.

The speech, “Fiji’s strategic framework for change”, will reinforce Fiji’s breach of an earlier promise to hold elections this year.

The country has been suspended from the Pacific Forum and the Commonwealth.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/2551992/Fiji-bans-youth-speakers

By MICHAEL FIELD – Stuff.co.nz :

Fiji’s military has extended its martial law rule for another 30 days, claiming it has made the country more peaceful.

Dictator Voreqe Bainimarama imposed the latest bout of martial law in Easter when the country’s Supreme Court declared his regime illegal.

He declared a “new legal order” with martial law that gives the military and police the right to use lethal force without being subject to judicial review, and also includes media censorship.

Every Fiji newsroom now includes military censors.

Military spokesman Neumi Leweni hailed the benefits of censorship.

“The absence of politics from the national agenda, for instance, is contributing positively to the peace and stability of the nation,” Leweni said.

“People are now more focused on their lives, families and work without being distracted by the divisive and fragmentary views that were prominent in the period before the emergency regulations were implemented.”

He claimed tourism was benefiting from the “more positive reports about tangible developments throughout the country and about people going about their usual friendly and accommodating way of life which Fiji is renowned for.”

Leweni, who used to be the Fiji military band drummer, said they had considered the need to extend the regulations as highly pragmatic in order to provide greater stability and focus on “nation-building initiatives”.

“Government is guided by its intentions to direct the nation towards a more peaceful and harmonious society that is free from all forms of discrimination and corruption,” he said.

Leweni said it is to be expected that the initial period of the re-building process will naturally be difficult for some members of the public to understand.

“But, government will continue to appeal for the public’s understanding and active support.

“Ultimately, government must take responsibility for the nation and especially to ensure that it successfully completes the work it had initially set out to do,” he said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/2487739/Martial-law-working-says-Fiji#share

Two Fiji journalists who had been held by police for two nights have been released.

The journalists, from a Fiji online news site, were behind bars after reporting that the military regime released prisoners convicted of killing a civilian.

FijiLive journalist Shelvin Chand was taken to Suva Police Station on Saturday while his colleague Dionisia Turagabeci had been detained since Sunday.

The reporters had been kept in separate cells for breaking the regime’s new strict media reporting laws, Fairfax New Zealand reported.

Under the emergency rules instituted after last month’s political turmoil, the military government ordered that news organisations could only report positive news.

Government officials were placed in newsrooms to vet all coverage, a move that has sparked international condemnation for the gagging of public expression.

On Friday, FijiLive reported the regime had freed nine soldiers and three policemen jailed in 2007 for killing a teenager.

The dozen had been convicted of manslaughter and ordered to serve between eight years and life for the torture and death of 19-year-old Sakiusa Rabaka a month after the regime’s 2006 coup.

Australia’s former foreign minister Alexander Downer took up the case at the time and referred it to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.

Meanwhile, the regime has celebrated the success of the new censorship laws, which were last week extended another month to June 10.

Military spokesman Neumi Leweni told journalists Fijians were benefiting from more positive news.

“The people of Fiji are now experiencing a remarkable change from what used to be highly negative and sensationalised news to a more positive, balanced and responsible reporting by the media,” Leweni said.

NZPA

Source: http://www.3news.co.nz/World/Story/tabid/417/articleID/103596/cat/61/Default.aspx

The South Pacific Forum has formally suspended the membership of founding member Fiji.

The Pacific Island nation’s membership has been suspended because it has not met the Forum’s demand to get started on fresh elections.

A deadline of midnight on Friday night was set at the last Forum meeting in January.

Fiji has been ruled by military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama since he ousted the elected government in a bloodless coup 29 months ago.

It is the first time a member has been suspended since the Forum was founded 38 years ago.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully admits it probably does not matter to Fiji’s military leader.

He says if Bainimarama wants to wreck Fiji’s economy he can do so.

Published: 12:48PM Saturday May 02, 2009

Source: Newstalk ZB

http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/pacific-forum-formally-suspends-fiji-2695870

The UN Security Council deplored what it called a “step backwards” in Fiji, demanding that the South Pacific island resume moves toward democracy and hold elections as soon as possible.

Fiji has been plunged into a political crisis since its president reappointed military chief Frank Bainimarama as interim prime minister on April 11, less than two days after a court ruled his 2006 coup and subsequent government illegal.

Since his reappointment, Bainimarama has imposed emergency restrictions and refused to hold elections before 2014.

After a briefing from UN political department chief Lynn Pascoe, the Security Council said it was “deeply concerned about the situation in Fiji, where undemocratic decisions were made, including the abrogation of the constitution.”

“It is a step backwards,” said a statement read to media by Ambassador Claude Heller of Mexico, the current council president, adding that a “restoration of the democracy process” was required.
 
The council’s 15 members “expressed hopes that Fiji would make a steadfast advancement toward democracy and that free elections will be held at the soonest possible time,” Heller said.

In his briefing, Pascoe described the new measures taken in Fiji as “brazen actions” that would further polarize society and increase the potential for instability and violence.

He said preparations that had been under way for the United Nations and the Commonwealth to mediate political dialogue in Fiji faced suspension “unless there is a change in the current state of affairs.”

Published: 7:08AM Tuesday April 21, 2009

Source: Reuters

http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/un-demands-resumption-fiji-democracy-2659928

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister says Fiji has taken a giant step backwards in the last few days but there is little this country can do.

Murray McCully told TVNZ’s Q + A programme that it doesn’t get much worse than “declaring yourself dictator for life”  but New Zealand has to let Fiji work it out while making it clear the international community is there to lend a hand.

McCully said sacking the judges and clamping down on personal and media freedoms fits the traditional mould for a military dictator and such moves haven’t had a happy ending anywhere in the world.

But McCully told ONE News political editor Guyon Espiner that we must avoid seeing the situation as a contest with the military regime to make them have elections.

“We can’t make them have elections and can’t stop them wrecking their economy,” McCully said.

The Foreign Minister said there is lots more New Zealand could do but any further action would restrict the freedoms of New Zealanders to travel or trade with Fiji and that would put us in the same category.

He said that along with other countries, New Zealand is looking at fine-tuning sanctions and could toughen up the impact of sanctions targeting regime and members of their families.

But he reiterated that the government was not going to do anything drastic to change the regime because anything substantial would effectively “make us no better than them”.

McCully admits Australia and New Zealand’s sanctions policy isn’t working and hasn’t brought Fiji to hold elections. He says various international bodies have talked to Fiji in good faith and they all feel let down.

“We are dealing with a tough regime and it is not going to bend in a hurry,” he says.

Case by case basis

McCully says they weigh up foreign policy on a case by case basis. He says Tonga is now on a path to democracy from a feudal monarchy with democratic elections set for next year and New Zealand has been able to make a significant contribution in opening up China’s economy. But he says there has been no opportunity to engage
with Burma.

The Foreign Minister says New Zealand always seeks to be part of any solution, not problem.

Questioned about China’s aid to Fiji he said the official line is that New Zealand welcomes China’s generosity in the Pacific. But he says given the size of the ocean being shared by 14 smaller Pacific nations, the government is working to get China to understand the benefits of working more closely with New Zealand and Australia.

He said he is pleased chequebook diplomacy in the Pacific is being scaled back.

And McCully was cautious over a United States request for more military help in Afghanistan, specifically for SAS troops. He says NZ is reviewing its commitment to Afghanistan and is having a look in context of the complete package of support for region. And he says they must factor is resource and capacity issues going forward.

McCully says Timor Leste has NZ’s biggest deployment and it is important to be aware of the needs in our own region. And as New Zealand heads toward a centre line in the Mideast he acknowledged that the country is aligning itself more with its old allies such as the United States, Australia and the UK rather than the United Nations.

The minister made it clear that the government’s foreign policy broadly represents the consensus of public opinion in New Zealand.

Published: 12:09PM Sunday April 19, 2009

Source: http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/little-nz-can-do-fiji-2654932

Copyright © 2008, Television New Zealand Limited

Fijian bloggers have mounted an online tirade against the military regime as the government pushes on with harsh media censorship and wide-ranging reforms.

Frank Bainimarama’s government has silenced Australia and New Zealand’s radio transmitters in Fiji, thrown out international media and imposed tough reporting constraints on domestic media, leaving an information vacuum in the beleaguered state.

In the latest reports, international freelance journalist Pita Ligaiula has been detained and two Fiji Times newspaper journalists were summoned by government officials to explain “negative” coverage.

The censorship has pushed voices of dissent underground, onto several active blog websites that deride Bainimarama as an illegal leader.

A key blog, Intelligentsiya, said Fiji was in a mess and was scorned by the South Pacific.

“The self-appointed illegal leader defies the calls for elections and lies about the so-called 64% support of his ideals and the normalcy of our current situation,” the website said.

“Lo and behold we even detect some knee-knocking as Bainimarama now begins to fear another coup within a coup.”

The blog site Raw Fiji News said: “Fijians in Australia and New Zealand are mobilising themselves to apply pressure on their newly adopted federal governments to adopt tougher measures on Frank’s dictatorial regime.”

“Protest marches, petitions, etc are expected to commence from as early as next week.”

Meanwhile, news stories carried by Fiji’s main media outlets continue to paint the latest developments in a positive light.

Bainimarama made his latest power grab last week after the Court of Appeal ruled his government was illegal.

In the wash-up, President Josefa Iloilo scrapped the constitution, sacked the judiciary and reappointed Bainimarama until 2014.

The developments have been roundly condemned by Australia and New Zealand, which are considering what sanctions to place on the troubled state for failing to go to the polls.

The United Nations, European Union and United States have also criticised Fiji, while the Pacific Islands Forum and Commonwealth have said they will suspend Fiji’s membership.

Bainimarama has sacked several heads of department, saying they did not fit with his new order, and has been scrambling to shore up the country’s finances by devaluing the currency and limiting bank withdrawals.

In the latest drastic measure, the military chief has issued a decree setting the new retirement age for public servants at 55 to save government money.

“Any person employed in the civil service, Fiji Police Force and the Fiji Prisons Service, who is already over the age of 55 years, shall retire on 30 April 2009,” states the decree.

Bainimarama and his top civil servants are exempt from the order.

Published: 12:59PM Friday April 17, 2009

Source: Reuters

http://tvnz.co.nz/technology-news/fijian-bloggers-mount-tirade-against-regime-2652215

Fiji’s coup leader Frank Bainimarama says freedom of speech “causes trouble” and must be curbed to allow the military government to do its work.

The military man has justified tough restrictions on local and international media reporting of recent political upheaval by saying he doesn’t like to hear opposition to his plans.

“We want to come up with these reforms and the last thing we want to do is have opposition to these reforms throughout,” he told Radio New Zealand on Wednesday.

“So that is the reason we’ve come up with the emergency regulations.”

Bainimarama has assumed greater power in recent days after the abrogation of the constitution following a Court of Appeal ruling that his government was illegal.

An information vacuum exists after he imposed severe coverage restrictions on local media and expelled all Australian and New Zealand journalists from the country.

Asked about every country’s need to have open and free discussions, Bainimarama told the radio station: “not in Fiji”.

“The circumstances have changed,” he said.

“We (the government) now decide what needs to be done for our country.”

He said freedom of speech had “caused trouble” in the past and was the reason for the political upheaval in the past few days.

“That was how we came up with what has happened in the last few days,” he said.

Published: 1:53PM Wednesday April 15, 2009

Source: AAP

http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/bainimarama-free-speech-causes-trouble-2646295