2 Sep 2009

Fiji regime says international isolation is the price of reform

1:57 pm on 2 September 2009

Fiji's interim regime says its increasing distance from the international community is the price it has to pay to reform the country's political landscape.

The Commonwealth has suspended Fiji over its refusal to set an election date by October next year, meaning it will miss out on intergovernmental meetings, technical assistance and the Commonwealth Games.

The Acting Prime Minister, Ratu Epeli Ganilau says the suspension is predictable and unfortunate, but there was no way the interim government was going to be able to meet the deadline.

He says it does feel as though Fiji is being sidelined by the international community.

"We all feel it and hopefully by the time we get to elections in 2014 all these things can come back as normal, [these are] sacrifices that have to be faced, in order to achieve what we've set out to do. Reforms don't happen overnight, we're talking about major reforms here, to the political process."