Fiji’s Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama said that if his Fiji First Party wins the general election (due to be held on September 17, 2014), his Government will reconsider returning to the Pacific Islands Forum.
He made the comment after meeting Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Sydney on August 25. He said that he discussed the way forward for his country following reinstatement of democracy after a lapse of about eight years, but did not elaborate.
Earlier, his Foreign Minister Inoke Kubuabola had suggested that Fiji will consider such a move only if Australia and New Zealand quit the organisation.
Fiji was suspended from the Forum in 2009 after Mr Bainimarama postponed the general election, originally scheduled to be held in 2007.
Mr Bainimarama said that the Forum was not very kind to him.
“But I understand what happened on December 5, 2006,” he said, referring to the coup that he led to oust the Laisenia Qarase Government and install his military regime.
He said that his Country now has a Constitution “put together by the people of Fiji.”
The above was broadcast by Radio New Zealand on August 25, 2014.
Frank frowns at ‘cheap talk’
Mr Bainimarama has expressed his chagrin at the constant swipe that his opponents take at his Government during the ongoing election campaign in Fiji.
“We keep hearing from opposition politicians that more needs to be done. I agree. But their talk is cheap. Genuine achievement comes from identifying a problem and using teamwork to fix it; or seeing an opportunity and seizing it. That is what my Government has done, is doing and will continue to do if the Fijian people put their trust in us to continue our reform programme when they cast their votes on September 17,” he said.
Better healthcare
Mr Bainimarama was speaking at the commissioning of the Replacement of a new Cardiac Laboratory and a new Operating Theatre in Suva on August 12, 2014.
He said that the new facility came at the heels of the opening of a new 20–bed Navua Hospital, which is now providing higher levels of health care to the residents of the Serua and Namosi provinces.
“We recently performed the groundbreaking ceremony for a new 60-bed hospital in Ba, which will dramatically raise the standards available to tens of thousands of people in the West. In the same week, we started work to upgrade the Lautoka Hospital, where we are building a new Emergency Department and new operating theatres,” Mr Bainimarama said.
