The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma has announced the suspension of Fiji from the Commonwealth with immediate effect for failure to commit to 2010 elections.
Fiji’s interim leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who led a military coup in 2006 and has resisted repeated international calls to return the country to democracy, has said the earliest he will agree to democratic elections would be 2014.
The Commonwealth had given the Fiji Government until September 1 to agree to elections next year.
The Secretary-General said the suspension was regrettable yet necessary.
“This is an announcement I make with deep regret – it is a step the Commonwealth is now obliged to take, and one that it takes in sorrow, he said in a broadcast statement.
“Since Fiji was suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth following the military overthrow of civilian government in December 2006, sustained efforts have been made by the Commonwealth to engage the Interim Government, so as to promote a return to constitutional democracy, and to encourage a national dialogue aimed at tackling the underlying issues that led to this and past coups.”
Fiji's Parliament House, Suva. Credit: timoshea95/flickr
NZ Foreign Minister Murray McCully said countries had tried to assist Fiji and all they could now was adopt a wait and see approach.
“There’s really nothing we can do to force Fiji to move down a path towards democracy and we have to accept that if they want to resist that process, then they can do so,” he said to reporters.
“But I think we should just patiently wait, and wait for the time in which they want to receive international assistance.”
Australia’s Foreign Minister Stephen Smith described the suspension as “sad but inevitable” adding that Fiji’s refusal to commit to elections next year was “completely unacceptable.”
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