KEY POINTS:
Foreign Ministers from Pacific Islands Forum nations will meet in Auckland tomorrow to discuss the progress Fiji's interim administration is making towards holding general elections.
The meeting follows a decision by Forum Leaders in Nuku'alofa last October that Foreign Ministers should review the progress being made towards the March 2009 target date for elections, to which Commodore Bainimarama committed Fiji during the Forum.
Progress is being assessed against benchmarks developed by a team of international electoral experts for the Forum/Fiji Joint Working Group, which meets regularly in Suva to monitor developments and is open to all Forum member countries.
Fiji has taken some steps to prepare for the elections. It has held a census, appointed members to the Electoral Commission and the Constituency Boundaries Commission, and allocated some funding to the Office of the Elections Supervisor. In addition, a committee has been established to coordinate foreign assistance to the elections.
Foreign Ministers will encourage Fiji to build on this work by accelerating preparations. Progress has been slower, and the budgetary allocation remains substantially less, than the independent experts recommended. Fiji has yet to identify clearly what external assistance it requires from the many donors willing to provide support.
An appointment to the critical post of Supervisor of Elections has also not yet been made, although interviews recently took place.
There is still time to complete thorough electoral preparations before the March 2009 target date.
The main burden falls on Fiji but New Zealand will do all it can to help. We have recently sent an electoral expert to Suva to assist Fiji and the donor community assess gaps in resources for election preparations and the donor assistance required.
We have also made a financial contribution to a UN civic education programme, and are considering supplying software for drawing electoral boundaries.
No-one who knows anything about Fiji's recent history thinks that an election provides all the answers to the country's problems.
New Zealand supported a long-term national reconciliation project before the coup, and understands that the issues in Fiji are complex. Restoring a legitimate constitutional government, however, has to be the starting point for tackling those issues. That can only be done through elections.
At times Commodore Bainimarama appears to be saying that elections will only take place if those who stand as candidates accept the results of his "People's Charter" initiative, which seeks radically to re-shape Fiji's political, economic and social structures.
Foreign governments invited to support this process, including ours, have declined, citing legal, constitutional and practical reservations.
There are very real questions about the level of public support for this initiative, which is closely controlled by the regime and not inclusive. Even well-designed and well-intentioned policies will not survive if citizens do not feel they own them.
The Commodore has also suggested that the army will intervene again if a future government does not adhere to the "People's Charter" outcomes.
That raises doubts about his commitment to foster an environment which respects and upholds open political dialogue and freedom of expression.
Without these, the international community would find it difficult to assess an election to be free and fair.
At the Auckland meeting, Foreign Ministers will want to reflect on recent events in Fiji, such as warnings to the public about speaking out against interim government policies; the expulsion of a newspaper publisher, and the release of a report on media freedom, commissioned by the Fiji Human Rights Commission, which recommends actions at odds with human rights principles.
Developments of this kind explain why the international community has doubts about the interim government's commitment to restoring Fiji to constitutional government through elections by March 2009.
The longstanding links between Fiji and New Zealand and the bonds of friendship between our peoples are well known, and I look forward to the day when Fiji's relationship with New Zealand is fully normalised.
However we can only begin that process if Fiji demonstrates to its Forum partners an unambiguous commitment to elections in March 2009 as the first step towards restoring constitutional government.
* Foreign Minister Winston Peters will host a Fiji-focused meeting of Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers in Auckland tomorrow.
