27 Jan 2012

Samoa PM says there will be no Fiji elections in 2014

12:47 pm on 27 January 2012

The Prime Minister of Samoa has vigorously attacked Fiji's interim government, saying there's no chance a general election will go ahead in Fiji in 2014.

Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has described the military regime's promises of an election in two years time as a pipe dream.

He says the regime's empty promises create deception and false hope among Fiji citizens and the international community.

Concerns have been raised about the militarisation of Fiji's public service, a situation Samoa's leader describes as unqualified army colonels occupying top-level positions.

While comparing the iron will of Samoan people to the situation in Fiji, Tuilaepa warns that Fiji could soon experience the Pacific version of the Arab Spring.

He says one cannot suppress people indefinitely because people power is mightier than guns.

Tuilaepa says if what is happening in Fiji occurred in Samoa, 100,000 people would march from the mountains, plantations and countryside into the streets of Apia - old women armed with brooms included.