Fiji military confirms elections for 2014

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, July 1 (UPI) -- Military leaders in Fiji said Monday that elections will be held in five years after a new constitution is laid out in 2012.

"A new legal order exists, a new government exists and September 2014 has been set out as the date at which elections must take place. This is the reality," said Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama in his broadcast speech to the nation.

Bainimarama's address confirms the date for elections, put back from this year.

Elections are also the singular issue that resulted in Fiji being expelled from the 16-member Pacific Islands Forum, an intergovernmental organization to enhance cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean, in May.

Bainimarama cancelled elections earlier in the year in the face of an exclusion threat from forum. Fiji's expulsion is the first time a country has been suspended in the organization's 38-year history.

Fiji's date for elections was quickly condemned by Stephen Smith, foreign minister for Australia, which is a member of the forum. He also said Fiji could face a similar ban by the British Commonwealth.

What was missing from his speech, analysts said, is any indication that the military will withdraw sooner rather than later from public life and the 2014 election deadline. Fiji's military is one of the smallest national armed forces in the world, comprising around 3,500 soldiers and 6,000 reserves. The 300-strong navy has around nine patrol boats.

"He appears to have grasped that Fiji needs external help to stabilize its deteriorating economy," said Jenny Hayward-Jones, director of the Myer Foundation Melanesia Program at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia.

"In language clearly aimed at international financial institutions, he promised pro-growth and pro-poor policies, reduce expenditure, outsource to the private sector, rehabilitate roads and reform tax laws," said Hayward-Jones, who has held positions in Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and was a member of the election monitoring delegation in the Solomon Islands in 2001.

"More worryingly, the lack of any reference in the address to the future role of the military in Fiji was a strong indication that Commodore Bainimarama does not intend that the military retreat from its dominance of government and politics beyond 2014."

Bainimarama referred in his speech to the world economy starting to pick up after recent financial crises and that meant better markets for Fiji's exports, especially cane sugar, although the country's economy is expected to shrink by 0.3 percent this year.

Exports of gold and fish have increased. However, performances of other industries, such as garments, timber and mineral water, have been affected by the weak demand from overseas economies.

Fiji devalued its currency in April, helping exports, he said. Foreign reserves have steadily risen to around $660 million from around $440 million before the devaluation.

He called on the international community including non-government organizations to help Fiji develop a new constitution that must eliminate ethnic-based voting.

Fijians of Indian extract, most of whom arrived between 1879 and 1916 as indentured workers for the British, make up less than half the population. Many left after a military coup in 1987. Those who remain are employed mainly in the sugar industry and commerce.