And interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama maintains that electoral reforms must be put in place before any election is held.
Pacific leaders on Tuesday their special meeting in Port Moresby gave Fiji the ultimatum to nominate by May 1 a timeline for election to be held this year.
Bainimarama said Fiji’s position would not change despite the ultimatum. He said it was not the Forum’s role to decide election in its member countries.
The interim PM who declined to attend the Port Moresby meeting told a radio station that the Forum had gone beyond its mandate by issuing an ultimatum.
“I think that it (Forum) has gone beyond the forum zone, as a body formed to assist members in their development,” he said.
“The Forum has gone beyond its mandate. It was never a mandate of the founders of the Forum that it should determine what type of government members should have.”
On political parties, non-governmental and international organizations supporting the Forum’s decision, he said the interim government would not budge.
Ousted PM Laisenia Qarase chose not to comment on the recent statement by the military commander.
The National Federation Party called on Bainimarama to allow transparency to take place and submit to the Forum.
NFP general secretary Pramod Rae said the interim PM should fulfill his promise to allow the country to go to the poll because it was long overdue.
Former opposition leader Mick Beddoes said Bainimarama spoke almost like “we are all his private property and he will decide what is good for us”
“Life does not work like that in today’s world,” he said.
“Maybe in the days of the Roman Empire, but we have moved on a bit since then and at the end of the day it will be the people, not Frank, not the military who will decide what future they want, and who they want to lead them. And the sooner they understand that, the sooner we can start to correct our sailing away from its current destructive course.”
In related news the proposed meeting of all political parties to discuss the terms of references and the agenda of the President’s Political Dialogue Forum will happen next month, Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum told the Pacific Island Forum Leaders in Papua New Guinea on Tuesday.
“To fast track the process Prime Minister Bainimarama called a preliminary meeting (before the PPDF) of all registered political parties,” he said.
Sayed-Khaiyum added, “He will this week write again, he may have already done so, to the political parties to meet with them next month to finalize the agenda and the terms of reference for the PPDF. As stated by the prime minister to the MCG, the Forum can also be an observer when the PPDF proper is held. Once the agenda is agreed to, then the United Nations and the Commonwealth will take over the facilitation of the dialogue.”
Sayed-Khaiyum said “as soon as there is agreement on a new electoral system, the Electoral Commission and the Office of the Supervisor of Elections shall be notified to prepare for elections. The Electoral Commission and the Supervisor of Elections have indicated that it would take 12-15 months to prepare for the elections.”
