Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said both countries should be more appreciative of progress already made by the interim administration.
He was responding to New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ comment that NZ would not consider any relaxation of travel bans on those connected with the regime.
Sayed-Khaiyum said they have received a lot of sympathy from their European partners, and also from some of their Pacific neighbors. He said the ball was now in the court of Australia and New Zealand.
“They should essentially move away from a neocolonialist position they have taken and perhaps realize what good is being done,” he said. “I think it would appear Australia and New Zealand have put themselves in such a extreme position that it may find it hard to extricate itself.”
Sayed-Khaiyum reiterated that electoral reform advocated by the interim government was in compliance with, and supports all United Nations policy.
