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Frank Bainimarama - Source: ONE News -
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The Commonwealth said it would take tougher action against Fiji in September unless it had moved to hold elections by then.
A group of Commonwealth ministers met in London to consider the situation in Fiji, where military leader Frank Bainimarama appointed himself prime minister after staging a coup in 2006.
New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray Mccully says the decision is likely to draw a hostile reaction from Fiji's self-appointed leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama.
McCully says it's a rare move, and there's a high degree of symbolism about it.
But he says there has been every conceivable attempt made to offer Fiji support, and it's time to draw a line in the sand.
Bainimarama has recently gone back on a promise to hold elections in the first quarter of 2009. He says Fiji must first change its racially based electoral system, which he blames for past instability in the coup-plagued nation.
In a statement, the Commonwealth ministers said they deplored
the fact that Fiji contravened the principles of the Commonwealth,
a grouping of 53 countries, mainly former British colonies.
Fiji had not stuck to its March 2009 deadline for holding elections
and had not indicated an alternative date, it said.
Fiji is already suspended from Commonwealth meetings but the Commonwealth said it could go further if Fiji failed to make enough progress.
If a country is fully suspended, it loses access to Commonwealth advice and technical assistance. Commonwealth member states are encouraged to take further steps such as limiting government-to-government contacts.
In January, South Pacific island leaders gave Fiji until May 1 to set a date for elections in 2009 or face possible suspension from the 15-nation Pacific Islands Forum.
The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions
on Fiji until new elections are held.
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