Fiji suspended from Commonwealth

The Telegraph ^ | 9/1/2009

[bruinbirdman]

It failed to respond to a demand to begin restoring democracy to the island nation.

The 53-nation group had demanded that the South Pacific island nation meet conditions – such as resuming a dialogue with opposition groups and holding early elections – by midnight local time, or face suspension.

Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Fiji's self-appointed prime minister

The Commonwealth said Fiji responded to the request by the deadline, but it did not meet all of the group's requirements.

Fiji has been under military rule since the self-appointed prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, the country's armed forces chief, seized power in a 2006 coup.

His government had promised elections earlier this year.

Mr Bainimarama, who ousted the elected government in a 2006 coup, has repeatedly said he will not call elections before 2014 so he can first fundamentally reform the country's electoral system and root out what he called endemic corruption.

Fiji has suffered four coups since 1987, prompting international sanctions each time and suspension from the Commonwealth twice.

The last country to be suspended from the group was Pakistan. The country was expelled for six months from 22 November 2007 when General Pervez Musharraf called a state of emergency. Suspended members are not represented at meetings of Commonwealth leaders and ministers, although they remain members of the organisation.