24 Mar 2007

Pacific Island Forum representatives hope to meet Fiji's interim regime

8:57 am on 24 March 2007

Representatives from the Pacific Islands Forum are hoping to meet with Fiji's interim regime early next week to discuss the proposed joint working group.

The Forum's secretary general, Greg Urwin told Fijilive.com that an initial meeting before Easter would be very good.

The working group was recommended by the 16 Pacific Foreign Ministers at last weeks meeting in Vanuatu with indications that Fiji's interim administration is congenial to the proposal.

The working group will hold consultations with the interim administration in the next three months to see if the regime's time frame for the return to democratic rule can be reduced to match the Forum's recommendations.

Fiji's interim administration has set a three-year deadline for elections while the Forum says national elections could be held between 18 months to two years.