Interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama is hoping relations with Australia and New Zealand will improve in the months ahead after expressing disappointment their representatives were not forth coming during the Leaders Retreat yesterday.
Our News Director, Vijay Narayan in Vavau, Tonga.
Vijay Narayan: Fiji's Interim Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama has revealed that the Australian Foreign Minister and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark did not agree with some of the outcomes that may have been reached in the Pacific Island Leaders Forum as they showed their disappointment as he was explaining what he is planning to do as far as returning Fiji back to democracy during the Leaders Retreat yesterday afternoon.
According to Commodore Bainimarama he made a presentation to the Leaders Retreat and following that took questions for about 20 minutes. He said the most vocal of the Leaders were Helen Clark and Alexander Downer and they kept questioning him on whether his roadmap to democracy is credible. Commodore Bainimarama says that the other Island leaders all supported him with his intentions and he was happy with that and he was disappointed that Helen Clark and Alexander Downer were not that forth coming until leaving the meeting but he says that at least they have engaged in positive dialogue and he hopes that as months go by things will change and Clark and Downer will be ready to assist Fiji.
Commodore Bainimarama has also revealed that there may be a referendum after the People's Charter. He has said that because now Pacific Island leaders forum has noted that people, the initiative of the Interim Government in formulating a People's Charter and he says that since the next election as it has been said will be held under the Constitution, he would be looking at some options which will include on whether Fiji should have a referendum on the People's Charter, on changes that should occur for the benefit of the country.
There were differences in statements though as the New Zealand Prime minister, Helen Clark says that she thought it was a very good outcome for the Forum and is scared to say that there were very frank discussions and leaders would not settle for anything less than an absolute acceptance of the timetable for the first quarter of 2009.
Meanwhile, after the Leaders Formal dinner last night, Interim Prime Minister Commodore Bainimarama requested his Tongan counterpart Dr. Feleti Sevele that he would like to visit the villagers on Vavau Island.
Accompanied by his Permanent Secretary Pramesh Chand and Interim Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum, they were accorded a traditional welcome ceremony reserved for Tongan Nobles at one of the villages he visited.
The Commander and his entourage visited four villages overnight where they drank Kava with the villagers before returning to their hotel at around 1am this morning.
