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Chiefs from Fiji and Vanuatu are behind the decision to push for further dialogue within Fiji, it has been revealed.
According to Radio New Zealand, Vanuatu foreign minister, Joe Natuman, said that before last month’s summit of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, some Fiji chiefs asked for assistance from their Vanuatu counterparts, who relayed this to the prime minister.
Natuman says his government was also approached, prompting the Vanuatu leader to urge Fiji PM Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama to seek a wider dialogue.
“We received communication from Fiji, from the churches and the council of chiefs that they would like to get some dialogue going. So we prepared us Melanesians, following Melanesian traditions and values, to facilitate discussion between parties involved in Fiji.”
Fiji’s Great Council of Chiefs had been suspended at the start of the Fiji military’s so-called clean up campaign to suppress dissent.
Meanwhile, the MSG is expected to champion Fiji’s cause at the Forum meeting in Cairns, Australia later this week.
Already, Australian media today reported MSG member, Solomon Islands, has made an official request which could result in the discussion of the proposed PACER Plus free trade agreement being delayed until after the Cairns meeting.
The Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) is a prospective trade and economic deal between Australia, New Zealand and Forum Island countries.
