WELLINGTON (Pacnews) — New Zealand would look “a little silly” if it bowed to threats by Fijian military commander Frank Bainimarama to retaliate against sanctions imposed by New Zealand, says Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Commodore Bainimarama threatened to retaliate after Parmesh Chand, the new head of the Fiji prime minister’s office, was denied entry to New Zealand to visit his family.
Clark said Australia, Canada, the United States, the European Union, South Africa, the United Nations and the Commonwealth have all taken a similar position to New Zealand in reacting strongly to Fiji’s coup.
“Frankly I think it would make New Zealand look a little silly if we were suddenly to bow out because Bainimarama made a threat,” she told National Radio from Antarctica.
She said Fiji’s interim leadership needs to show the international community how it plans to return the country to constitutional government following the December coup.
Bainimarama has said New Zealand’s hundreds of millions of dollars worth of exports to Fiji could be put at risk because of New Zealand’s stance against his administration.
But Clark doubted that New Zealand’s exports are at risk as claimed.
Ousted Fiji Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase has said Bainimarama should be careful not to provoke further sanctions from New Zealand and Australia.
“We should try and put a stop to the coup culture and with the help of our overseas friends this could be fruitful. Commodore Bainimarama should be very careful in trying to retaliate to these two countries because if they do likewise, our country could suffer drastically,” he told the Fiji Times newspaper.
He said if Australia and New Zealand impose stricter sanctions on the country, Fiji will be on the losing end because Fiji is a small country with a small economy.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is also unmoved by the threats of retaliation against New Zealand.
Peters said at the weekend that threats from the interim Fijian government only serve to demonstrate how badly Bainimarama misread international opposition to his coup.