London, August 01: The Commonwealth has issued an ultimatum to the military regime of Fiji to either commit itself within a month for “credible elections” in the country before October 2010 or face “full suspension” from the 53-member body.
This was announced by Anifah Aman, Foreign Affairs Minister of Malaysia and Chairman of Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), after an extraordinary seven-hour meeting of the grouping here last evening.
Aman said the Fiji regime has been asked to immediately reactivate the President’s Political Dialogue Forum (PPDF) process for talks with the opposition, facilitated by the Commonwealth and the United Nations.
“CMAG stressed that such a dialogue must be independent, inclusive, time-bound and without any pre-determined outcome, and lead to credible elections in the country no later than October 2010,” he told reporters.
He said the Fiji regime has been asked to state its “firm commitment to reactivating the PPDF by no later than September 1, 2009, in writing to the Commonwealth Secretary-General. In the absence of such confirmation, Fiji will be fully suspended on that date.”
Replying to queries, Aman said at present Fiji is “partially suspended” and once it is fully suspended it would have no contacts at all with the Commonwealth and the body would cut sporting and technical aid like training.
–Agencies