New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who will chair the 40th edition of the Pacific Forum, faces a Melanesian and Micronesian rebellion over his hard-line on Bainimarama, who seized power in a military coup in 2006.
Fiji hosted a shadow summit last week and in a communiqué the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu endorsed Bainimarama’s plan to hold off having elections until 2014.
The grouping did not specially ask for Fiji to be returned to the forum fold, but they want more engagement with Fiji. In diplomatic language they recall “the importance of Fiji’s continuous engagement with the region and its full participation in regional development initiatives and programmes.”
Source
- Stuff.co.nz
- Image: Savali News