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Fiji won’t be sacked: MSG
THE Melanesian Spearhead Group has agreed not to suspend Fiji from the
Pacific Islands Forum.
The MSG Foreign Affairs Ministers held a special meeting in Honiara last
Saturday to discuss among other things the political situation and to
formulate appropriate MSG responses to assist in addressing the
situation.
The meeting chaired by Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Paul Tiensten
agreed to support Fiji’s participation in the meeting and further agreed
to oppose any moves to suspend Fiji from the forum.
The ministers stressed that there are no provisions in the Biketawa
Declaration for the imposition of penalties on member countries and that
any attempt to amend the declaration are to be resisted.
Before leaving for the meeting last Friday, Mr Tiensten said the bottom
line was “solidarity” within the MSG and that the ordinary people of
Fiji are not affected by whatever action taken and stressed that the MSG
position would be based on the Biketawa Declaration.
“We are not going to remove Fiji because there was a lot of trade and
investments between Fiji and MSG countries,” he said.
The special MSG meeting was attended by ministers and senior officials
from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji.
In a statement released yesterday, the foreign ministers expressed
concern over the removal of the democratically-elected government of
Fiji and in solidarity stressed that the political situation of Fiji was
an internal matter that can only be resolved by the people of Fiji using
constitutional and democratic processes.
The ministers expressed satisfaction of Fiji’s assurance that the rule
of law and human rights will be observed and that a democratic
government through the holding of a general election.
The ministers also noted that major institutions such as churches, other
religious organisations, great council of chiefs and the Fiji law
society are now supporting the interim government.
“The ministers welcomed Fiji’s commitment to search for solutions and
its desire to remain engaged with the international community and
welcomed the actions of the commander of the Fiji military forces in
returning authority to the president Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu.
and welcomes the formation of an interim government, as a positive step
towards returning Fiji to democratic rule,” a statement released
yesterday said.
 
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