A way forward for Fiji

OP-Ed: Helen Clark reflects on the way forward in Fiji following the discussions among Pacific Islands Forum Leaders in Niue last month.

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Public commentary on Fiji since the Niue Forum has focussed on the warning Leaders gave to the Interim Government about Fiji’s future participation in the regional body in the event the Interim Government continues down its current path. Much less attention has been paid, especially within Fiji, to the framework Forum Leaders provided in their communiqué to help resolve the current situation in Fiji.

Forum Leaders explicitly acknowledged that there are long-term issues that need to be addressed in Fiji. They recognised that an independent and inclusive political dialogue process could assist in developing understandings among Fiji’s key stakeholders. Leaders considered that the framework for this political dialogue already exists in the Commonwealth-led process of consultations with stakeholders. In the view of Forum Leaders, this could create a more conducive environment for an election to be held under Fiji’s current Constitution by March 2009, and provide a basis for all stakeholders to commit to work with the newly-elected government to advance a framework for reform and broader national reconciliation.

This vision of Forum Leaders fits the facts on the ground in Fiji. Leaders of all Fiji’s political parties have expressed an openness to consider reforms, including in constitutional and electoral matters. They have expressed their willingness to participate in a dialogue process, if it is independent and inclusive, without preconditions or pre-determined outcomes, and pursued within a legal and constitutional framework. Given goodwill and commitment on all sides, an inclusive and independent political dialogue process could generate outcomes acceptable to all.

Promoting successful dialogue will not be easy. It will need skilled facilitation such as the Commonwealth can provide. But it is clear that many of Fiji’s key stakeholders have well considered ideas about ways to overcome the political difficulties facing their country. Some of the proposals already in the public domain are quite detailed and specific about objectives and how to achieve them. And it is clear that on some of these issues there are divergences of view between different groups and stakeholders within Fiji. Reaching an enduring agreement on such issues will therefore take some time.

Given this background, it is heartening to discern signs of widespread willingness among political party leaders to commit to implementing an agreed framework for further reform and national reconciliation after an election conducted according to Fiji’s undertaking to Forum leaders at the Nuku’alofa Forum. If such an agreement were to be reached, Forum Leaders would certainly be willing to stand as guarantors to ensure full implementation.

That is why Forum Leaders tasked the Ministerial Contact Group to monitor the progress of the Commonwealth-led dialogue and any political consensus within Fiji arising from it. That is why Forum Leaders proposed that the Ministerial Contact Group visit Fiji again before the end of 2008 to prepare a report for a possible Special Leaders Meeting in Papua New Guinea before the end of the year on the situation in Fiji. This Special Meeting need not be about further measures against Fiji, such as suspension from the Forum. If the major actors in Fiji seize the opportunity identified in the Niue Forum Communiqué, the Special Leaders Meeting could be about how best the Forum can support a return to constitutional governance and democratic politics in Fiji.

New Zealand very much wishes to see such an outcome. We believe it can be achieved if the Interim Government looks carefully at what the Niue Forum has proposed and endorses a change process in Fiji that will avoid the prospect of isolation from its Pacific neighbours.

That would also make possible a return to more normal relations between New Zealand and Fiji. Without a legitimate government in Fiji, the relationship cannot be normal. The return of a legitimate government committed to advancing a process of reform and national reconciliation would allow us to start down the road of normalisation and reconciliation. It is for this reason that the Forum Communiqué deserves close attention by the Interim Government as well as by political stakeholders and key sectors within Fiji.
 

Helen Clark
Prime Minister

24 September 2008