LATEST ON FORUM SEC FACILITATION FOR RETURN TO DEMOCRACY

PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM SECRETARIAT

PRESS STATEMENT

Pacific Islands Forum-Fiji Joint Working Group on the Situation in Fiji

21 June 2007, Forum Secretariat, Suva

AGREED OUTCOMES

The Working Group held its ninth meeting at the Forum Secretariat Headquarters in Suva on 21 June 2007, attended by senior officials from Australia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu.

· The Working Group formally endorsed the report of the independent technical assessment of an election timetable for Fiji.

· The Working Group welcomed the Fiji interim government’s acceptance in principle of the report and urged all parties to take the concrete steps necessary for the implementation of its findings. The Working Group supported a scoping mission being undertaken to assess the assistance required by Fiji to hold an election.

· The Working Group further discussed the standing issues (the restoration of civilian rule, upholding the 1997 Constitution, the cessation of human rights abuses and addressing allegations of abuse, and support for a credible and independent anti-corruption commission).

· The Working Group also further discussed its three-monthly progress report to the Eminent Persons’ Group, as requested by Forum Foreign Affairs Ministers at their meeting in Port Vila on 16 March.

The Working Group will hold its next meeting on 5 July 2007.

Source