Pacific leaders who may have taken up, in good faith, Bainimarama's invitation to the suddenly downgraded MSG meeting, find themselves endorsing Fiji's illegal and treasonous military regime EVEN when their resolutions during the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting have been consistent thus far.
Oh to be a fly on the wall and watch them wilt under the unblinking stares from Australia and New Zealand whilst they're all in Vanuatu (sans Fiji) next week.
In news just to hand regarding our favourite and irrelevant regional media organisation PINA, we understand that a certain donor has yanked all funding for their meeting which they had hoped to hold at a 5-Start hotel in Vanuatu. PINA Execs are now quickly coordinating for a hugely downgraded meeting at a "smaller" hotel, with greatly reduced regional participation to boot.
Intelligentsiya will now be examing NGO's who are propping up the military regime and working to ensure that donors yank funding from unprincipled civil society bodies who think they can spend taxpayer money from functioning democracies yet prop up a military regime.
THE NATADOLA COMMUNIQUÉ
1. The Head of State of Kiribati, Prime Ministers of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Fiji and the Ministers, Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Representatives of Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Timor Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu met in Natadola, Fiji on 22 – 23 July 2010 to discuss issues of common interest including trade, security, sustainable development, good governance, commerce, environmental pollution, climate change and Fiji’s Strategic Framework for Change.
2. The Leaders expressed their appreciation and gratitude to the Government and people of Fiji for their warm hospitality.
The Leaders:
3. Acknowledged with appreciation the high level of representation and attendance of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) that participated in the meeting;
4. Reaffirmed the special cultural bonds and ties that the PSIDS share with each other;
5. Agreed that Fiji’s Strategic Framework for Change (SFC) is a credible home-grown process for positioning Fiji as a modern nation and to hold true democratic elections;
6. Agreed that important lessons could be learnt and shared within the region, from Fiji’s experience and Fiji’s implementation of the Strategic Framework for Change;
7. Recognised the need for Fiji’s continuous engagement with the region and its full participation in regional development, initiatives and aspirations;
8. Acknowledged opportunities for partnership offered by Kiribati to develop joint ventures in fisheries processing;
9. Acknowledged opportunities offered by Papua New Guinea in various sectors to PSIDS on bilateral basis which include mining and exploration, employment, petroleum, education and other investment opportunities that could be taken up by the Pacific Island countries through bilateral arrangements;
10. Agreed that the opportunities available in Asia have the potential to stimulate economic growth and investment in PSIDS and recommended strengthening of economic ties with Asia;
11. Reiterate the need for PSIDS to take a stronger and united position on issues relating to climate change and sea level rise that affect the survival of the Pacific Island Countries;
12. Expressed concerns that funding committed at the global level for adaptation measures on climate change is yet to materialise and funding already channelled through regional institutions by our development partners are being unnecessarily delayed by complex procedures and high consultation fees;
13. Called on regional organisations and development partners to expeditiously disburse funds committed on climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives;
14. Reaffirmed the urgent need to conserve the region’s ocean resources and supported the Pacific Ocean 2020 Challenge and other conservatory measures such as the Coral Triangle Initiative, Micronesian Challenge and the Phoenix Islands Protected Area;
15. Committed that the fisheries resources and deep sea mineral resources must be exploited on sustainable and environmentally friendly manner
16. Agreed to consider the proposal by Fiji to conclude on a bilateral basis with PSIDS agreements on areas which include trade, regional tourism, education, shipping, aviation, immigration, fisheries, assistance in modernising laws, labour mobility, cooperation between chambers of commerce and the private sector and regional hub.
17. Noted the outcomes of the Police Commissioners Meeting that took place on 21 July 2010 and supported the setting up of a Regional Police Academy.
18. Acknowledged the presentation on the ‘Pacific Bridge to Noble Wealth’ project and the potential opportunities available for Pacific countries to integrate knowledge-based economies and tourism industries for sustainable development.
19. Agreed to the concept of “Rethinking Oceania” and endorsed the efforts of the Pacific Conference of Churches to recommend a development model that moves Oceania towards inclusiveness and sufficiency, report back in two years time.
20. Accepted the Fiji Government’s offer to organise annual meeting of Pacific Small Island Developing States to continue engaging with Fiji and review other issues they have discussed at Natadola.
Natadola, Fiji
23 July 2010
3 comments:
What a load of hogwash! An unequivocal sign of a complete lack of discernment by those who attended.
How can these people seriously expect anything out of this laundry wishlist of untried ideas? If Fiji wants to engage with the rest of the Pacific, all it has to do is have credible democratic elections ASAP. None of this other delirious rhetoric is necessary.
The only pro-regime points are numbers 5, 6 & 7.
Point 5 is clearly rubbish. The countries concerned have embarrassed themselves by allowing their names to be associated with it. First of all, no credible economists or academics agree with them.
Furthermore, the idea that the SFC is credible is out-dated by the fact that it is a plan that has already been implemented in many respects. So its value no longer rests on any alleged potential credibility by non experts and traitors trying to escape jail. Rather, the SFC's value rests on the actual results it achieves for Fiji. These are clearly sub-standard and much worse than anything Fiji achieved under imperfect democratic rule.
Point 6 is also rubbish since other countries cannot learn anything from the wall-to-wall facade of propaganda lies the regime uses to characterize its SFC failures. If any other Forum country implements any idiosyncratic policy from Fiji's SFC, I will eat my hat.
Finally Point 7 needs to be understood in that Fiji is being encouraged to engage with the region - not the other way around. If Fiji want's to engage, it needs to do so seriously and honourably. It can start by doing so with the real political leaders at home in Fiji itself. Otherwise, stop wasting other peoples' time with silly facades that don't mean anything, and don't require anyone else's agreement anyway.
Noted, acknowledged, reaffirmed, recognized...What a load of nonsense. What matters in these meetings are two Latin words that all the crooked politicians that plague our region, however uneducated, understand perfectly well: PER DIEM
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