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Fiji polls not on time

WELLINGTON: Fiji will not have a general election in March 2009, said the Prime Minister, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama on Tuesday.

At a press conference in Suva, Cmdr. Bainimarama said he was pressured to agree to the March 2009 date at the Pacific Leaders Forum meeting in Tonga last year because the forum wanted a definite date, the website Fijilive.com reported. “I wanted flexibility and an ‘in principle’ understanding that the date could be reviewed if Fiji for good reason was not able to meet the particular date,” he said.

Any election that would be held in Fiji has to be held under the new electoral system. Once the new system was agreed upon, it would take 12 to 15 months to hold the election, he said. The report by the Pacific Islands Forum Ministers Contact Group on Fiji’s intention to hold elections was disappointing, said Cmdr. Bainimarama, adding the report would be discussed by the Forum Leaders in Niue this week.

“The Pacific Forum needs to understand that we in Fiji will decide what is in our national interest in the short and the long term,” he said. “Outsiders cannot decide this for us. What we need from the forum and our other international development partners is understanding and support,” he added. Cmdr. Bainimarama had announced on Monday he would not attend the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Niue this week. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday there is no excuse for Cmdr. Bainimarama not to attend the Pacific Islands Forum meet, and Fiji would be a “major feature” of the summit despite the boycott. “Fiji will still be, despite his absence, a major feature of leaders’ discussions in Niue,” said Mr. Rudd.

Mr. Rudd said Cmdr. Bainimarama “should meet his solemn commitment to hold polls by March next year.” — Xinhua

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