Fiji to expel Australian diplomat over Pacific snub
Talek Harris
12 July 2010
1:27 PM GMT
Agence France Presse
English
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved.
Fiji's regime is to kick out Canberra's top diplomat in anger at an embarrassing snub by Pacific nations, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Monday, calling the move "deeply disappointing".
Smith said acting high commissioner Sarah Roberts would be declared persona non grata on Tuesday, after Australia lobbied for the postponement of a regional summit in protest at Fiji's lack of democracy.
"It's unjustified and unjustifiable and it's deeply disappointing," Smith told reporters.
Roberts is Australia's highest-ranking diplomat in the military-run country after the high commissioner was expelled along with his New Zealand counterpart in November over alleged interference in Fiji's judiciary.
Her removal comes after the five-member Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) said it was cancelling this month's leaders summit in Fiji over concerns about democracy and "good governance".
"We made it quite clear to Fiji and to other Pacific Islands Forum nations we regarded this (summit) as being inappropriate," Smith said.
However, Smith suspected Fiji was also reacting to his strong condemnation of a media crackdown which will effectively close the country's oldest and biggest newspaper, the Fiji Times.
Australia has been at loggerheads with Fiji since military chief Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in 2006 and later postponed democratic elections until 2014, earning widespread condemnation abroad.
Fiji is already suspended from the Commonwealth and the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum and has been hit with sanctions by the European Union and countries including the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Last year's diplomatic expulsions came after Bainimarama sacked Fiji's judiciary, triggering further international criticism.
However, Smith said Canberra would not react to the latest move by expelling Fiji's sole diplomat in Australia.
"I'm not proposing to respond in kind... I don't want to see the end of formal diplomatic relations between Australia and Fiji," he said.
Relations had thawed slightly in recent months as Australia hosted a rare foreign ministers meeting also involving Fiji and New Zealand.
But Fiji was apparently incensed at the last-minute cancellation by the MSG, which also includes Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, which was spiced with some pointed criticism.
"There are basic fundamental principles and values of democracy and good governance that our organisation is built on and we must continue to uphold them," said Vanuatu Prime Minister Edward Natapei, the current MSG chairman.
The media rules, forcing 90 percent Fijian ownership of all outlets within three months, came out two weeks ago and drew strong protests from Australia, New Zealand and Rupert Murdoch's News Limited, the Fiji Times' owner.
