Mari Yamashita of the United Nations said “this mission is to follow up previous missions and previous decisions that have been made.”
The members of the team include Yamashita and Alex Grzybowski of the U.N. and Juliet Solomon and Sabhita Raju of the Commonwealth.
The team has arrived in Suva.
Former independent interlocutor of political dialogue Robin Nair expressed his disappointment at not being able to meet the team.
Late last month, deputy secretary for information Maj. Neumi Leweni said in a statement that the interim government would no longer accommodate Nair as an interlocutor for the political forum because he compromised his position through statements he made to the media.
“I am disappointed that I am not going to meet them after such an intimate involvement in the process that the U.N. and the Commonwealth are now supposed to advance,” Nair said.
“After we completed the report and submitted it to the government, the U.N. did contact me and asked me to share with them my experiences and any underlying dynamics that might be useful for them to understand in carrying forward their mandate,” Nair said.
“I had a very productive discussion. I had wished to ensure with them that there would be a seamless and productive transition from the work of the two interlocutors to the U.N./Commonwealth’s forthcoming efforts. I had hoped that I would have a further opportunity to meet them to advance this process.”
Nair said he was disappointed because of his knowledge and genuine and obvious attachment for Fiji and its people but he was encouraged by the hope put on it by the political parties and the public at large.
“The confidence I gained during the process was in itself a milestone,” he said. “I believe that I was able to get consensus from the political parties on very difficult issues. “I also did not want to work in isolation from the international community. It would have been foolhardy to ignore them, particularly the Pacific Islands Forum countries, including Australia and New Zealand.”
Nair said he was sure the technical team would find a most cooperative group within the government, the military and the political parties to move quickly to solutions and to a find a stable democracy for Fiji.
The interim government has touted the political dialogue forum as an avenue for Fiji’s political stakeholders to discuss and agree on the best way to move the country forward and on to a democratic government through elections.
In line with this bid, Fiji’s President Ratu Josefa Iloilo wrote to the United Nations and Commonwealth last year to help facilitate such a forum. Technical teams were sent as a result to get a feel on Fiji’s situation and suggest the best way forward.
