The Commonwealth has threatened Fiji with full suspension from all parts of the Commonwealth in September if it fails to commit to holding new elections by next year.
Fiji is already suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth.
At a meeting in London on Friday, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) stopped short of suspending Fiji, but reaffirmed an ultimatum to the country's military rulers to restore democracy.
Following almost seven hours of talks, the CMAG - whose members are the United Kingdom, Ghana, Malaysia, Namibia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, St Lucia, Sri Lanka and Uganda - called on Fiji to inform it in writing by 1 September that it would hold elections by October 2010.
"In the absence of such confirmation, Fiji will be fully suspended on that date," the CMAG communique said.
Informed sources say the ministerial group was split down the middle, with countries including New Zealand in favour of suspension, but others - including Malaysia, which chairs the CMAG - against.
The elected government in Fiji was overthrown by the military in December 2006. It was the fourth coup there since 1987.
New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says the deadline is a clear ultimatum.
He says the Commonwealth has given Fiji the opportunity to make a positive decision, although he says he is not holding his breath.
Full suspension from the Commonwealth would mean that Fijian athletes would not be able to compete in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi next year.
Fiji fails to react
Fiji's interim government says it will not react to the latest suspension threat until directly informed of the ultimatum.
The Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, was quoted by the Fiji Village website on Saturday as saying the government had not received official word on the suspension threat and would only comment when there had been talks with the Commonwealth.
Since seizing power in 2006, Fiji's self-appointed prime minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, has resisted all international pressure to restore democracy.
When he said earlier this year there would be no democratic elections until 2014 it led to Fiji's suspension from the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum for refusing to return to democracy "in an acceptable time-frame".
