New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says questions remain about Fiji's plans to hold elections in 2014, five years later than originally scheduled.
Mr McCully is heading the Pacific Forum's ministerial contact group in Suva which is meeting representatives of both the six-year-old military-backed regime and its opponents.
He says that as 2014 date approaches, the likelihood of the elections taking place increases, but questions remain about whether they will be free, fair, and open to unrestrained media coverage.
"My own belief is the way in which the constitutional dialogue that's being held over the next six months or so plays out will be some sort of proxy for whether elections will be free and fair."
Mr McCully says Fiji leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama is out of the country during the visit, but the Pacific leaders will speak to senior Government figures as well as opposition groups.
