Fiji will not shy away from setting the record straight and ensure that regional organisations like USP are held accountable – PM

Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama stresses that regional organisations like USP have standards and expectations that they need to meet, and failing this, Fiji will not shy away from setting the record straight and ensure that they are held accountable.

While supporting the motion that parliament approve that Fiji ratify the 2005 Agreement Establishing the Pacific Islands Forum, Bainimarama says the Forum is the premier political regional body in the region and they have just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Forum this month with the theme Security and Prosperity in Unity.

He says a key focus of his tenure as Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum will be to restore our regional solidarity and rebuild trust and confidence in our relationship as a Forum family.

Bainimarama says the region will also be considering and adopting the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. He says this is the first for the Pacific Islands Forum.

However speaking on USP, he says they will continue to hold regional organisations accountable.

Bainimarama also says Fiji only fully joined the Forum again two years ago and that is the reason why the 2005 Agreement is not ratified.

He also says they have one of the most respected persons in the Pacific and former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola who is his Special Envoy for the Pacific Islands Forum.

SODELPA MP, Ro Teimumu Kepa says it is concerning that Fiji has not ratified the 2005 Agreement Establishing the Pacific Islands Forum for over 15 years.

She also says Bainimarama should ensure the full grants are released to USP in a timely manner.

The motion has been passed in parliament.

The 2005 agreement recognises the Forum as an international organisation comprising of member states including all Forum members and other Pacific island countries that may accede to the 2005 agreement.

Another key change is the recognition of associate members and observers to the Forum. This is a result of discussions in the Leaders Summit in 2004 where leaders saw the need to engage in non-sovereign Pacific territories more closely and progressively grant them such status in the Forum.

Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says currently all the 17 member countries have ratified the agreement with Fiji being the only country left to ratify it.

Fiji signed the Optional Protocol in 2005 but it is yet to ratify it.

Article 1 of the 2005 agreement establishes the Forum as an international organisation comprising of Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga as being founding members of the forum together with the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, and such other states as maybe admitted to the Forum after agreement with the leaders.