Military-ruled Fiji remained defiant yesterday after its historic suspension from the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum, rejecting the “punitive action” over a delayed election and warning it won’t be deterred from its chosen path even by “adversity.”
The coup-plagued nation was suspended from the regional bloc yesterday for what the forum called its rejection of democracy, freedom and human rights.
The suspension, the first in the forum’s 37-year history, bars Fiji’s leader, ministers and officials from taking part in any meetings or events and cuts Fiji out of development funding until a democratic government is restored.
Forum chairman Toke Talagi, premier of the micro-state of Niue, said Fiji’s rejection of fundamental principles like “the full observance of democratic values” and the promotion of human rights had given the forum no alternative.
But Fiji Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum said the military government “shall not be deterred from any of its objectives even in the face of adversity, created by some.”
“The [forum] statement ... falsely refers to so-called breaches of basic human rights, democracy and freedom under a military regime,” Sayed Khaiyum said in a statement. He did not elaborate.
He accused Australia and New Zealand of using their influence to force its suspension because of their “political agendas” and rejected the demand that Fiji hold elections within eight months.
“The untenable proposition that elections should be held at any cost immediately, even under a flawed system, is not only patronizing but demonstrates a lack of commitment to true democracy and sustainable parliamentary representation,” he said.
On Friday, Fiji’s military ruler, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, defied international pressure to announce elections, confirming they would not be held for five years.
That set the stage for his country’s ouster from the forum, which had given Fiji until Friday to announce elections for this year or be suspended from the group.
Bainimarama, who insists he has broad popular support at home, has consistently shrugged off international criticism and defended his decision to impose emergency rule and keep a lid on any challenges to his authority.
Bainimarama ousted the ethnic Fijian-dominated government in a 2006 coup and installed himself as prime minister. He has vowed to rewrite the constitution and electoral laws to remove what he says is discrimination against the country’s large ethnic Indian minority before holding elections. Critics say he shows little sign of being willing to give up power.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
JOINT EFFORTS: The three countries have been strengthening an alliance and pressing efforts to bolster deterrence against Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea The US, Japan and the Philippines on Friday staged joint naval drills to boost crisis readiness off a disputed South China Sea shoal as a Chinese military ship kept watch from a distance. The Chinese frigate attempted to get closer to the waters, where the warships and aircraft from the three allied countries were undertaking maneuvers off the Scarborough Shoal — also known as Huangyan Island (黃岩島) and claimed by Taiwan and China — in an unsettling moment but it was warned by a Philippine frigate by radio and kept away. “There was a time when they attempted to maneuver
RSS