Commonwealth suspends Fiji
Fiji’s military-led government said today that its suspension from the 53-nation Commonwealth is the price it must pay for its reform of the country’s political system, and insisted that it will not hold elections before 2014.
The Commonwealth suspended Fiji yesterday after it failed to meet certain conditions such as resuming dialogue with opposition groups and holding early democratic elections.
Acting Prime Minister Ratu Epeli Ganilau said the suspension was disappointing and unfortunate, but there was no way the government could meet the Commonwealth’s deadline.
“These (international responses) are sacrifices that have to be faced, in order to achieve what we’ve set out to do,” he told Radio New Zealand International.
“Reforms don’t happen overnight. We’re talking about major reforms here to the political process.”
Mr Ganilau is serving as acting prime minister while self-appointed leader Frank Bainimarama is out of the country.
The Commonwealth, comprised of the United Kingdom, its dependencies and many former British colonies, ruled in July that, unless Fiji met its demands, the nation would face being cut off from all aid from the group and banned from the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Fiji has been under military rule since Mr Bainimarama, the country’s armed forces chief, seized power in a 2006 coup.
His government had promised elections earlier this year, but Mr Bainimarama reneged on the promise, saying he needed more time to root out corruption and reshape the country’s political system.
