Excluded parties express disappointment

The four major political parties that were this morning excluded from the Political Dialogue Forum have expressed their disappointment and have all said that the Interim Prime Minister contradicts himself at every turn especially with regards to his pre-conditions set in letters sent to them before the Political Dialogue Forum.Speaking in a joint press conference by the SDL, NFP, UPP and National Tako Lavo Party, former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase said the decision to exclude them was not a wise one. The SDL, in response to Bainimarama's pre-conditions for the meet, in their letter stated they have never undermined national efforts to meet economic challenges that confront Fiji nor have they worked in partnership with certain media outlets and foreign countries to undermine national initiatives and efforts.Former Opposition Leader and the UPP's Mick Beddoes said despite their exclusion this morning the four parties are still willing to engage in dialogue.The UPP, in their letter of response to the Interim PM, stated that whoever drafted or suggested the contents of the letter to Bainimarama should be removed from office to avoid any further embarrassment to the PM's Office.NFP General Secretary Pramod Rae said setting pre-conditions before the dialogue is unacceptable adding dialogue is a two way road. In the NFP's letter responding to the pre-conditions they stated that Bainimarama was basically blackmailing the party into accepting the commitments and becoming subservient to the regime adding they will not accept any accusations from anyone.National Tako Lavo Party President Iliesa Duvuloco said the UN and Commonwealth have stressed that the Dialogue Forum must include all political stakeholders, majority of which are the SDL, NFP and UPP.Qarase has also confirmed their next step now will be to wait for reactions from the UN and Commonwealth with regards to their exclusion from the forum this morning.Meanwhile, before going into the meeting this morning, we asked Commodore Frank Bainimarama whether there is any hope for more dialogue with the four parties. Bainimarama stressed that they will no longer be part of the process.