Assisting Fiji to return to democratic rule is the aim of next week's visit by the Pacific Islands Forum Ministerial Contact Group, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Thursday.
The Contact Group, formed in March, comprises the foreign ministers of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu.
The group is scheduled to meet next Tuesday and Wednesday with members of the interim government, key political stakeholders, the Forum-Fiji Joint Working Group, and agencies and officials preparing Fiji for elections.
"This is an important visit, -- the first to Fiji by a group of Forum Foreign Ministers since the December 2006 coup," Peters said in a statement.
"Fiji's interim government recently said it would like greater engagement with Forum members, and this visit could help Fiji move forward toward elections," he said.
He hoped the Contact Group could encourage the interim government to reconsider its decision to suspend participation in the Joint Working Group, and the associated Donor Electoral Assistance Co-ordination Mechanism.
Peters also welcomed Fiji's appointment of an acting High Commissioner to Wellington to maintain diplomatic engagement.
Source:Xinhua
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