26 Nov 2008

Fiji's ousted PM to appeal to Commonwealth and UN for early elections

1:09 pm on 26 November 2008

The ousted prime minister of Fiji, Laisenia Qarase says he will be appealing to officials from the Commonwealth Secretariat and United Nations for an early election in Fiji following the 2006 military coup.

Mr Qarase will be meeting the Commonwealth envoy Juliet Solomon and a United Nations rapporteur in Suva tomorrow.

Mr Qarase says his agenda includes discussions on the state of Fiji's economy, general elections and the President's dialogue forum.

"I will certainly impress upon them the urgency of getting people from the UN and the Commonwealth to provide an independent chair for the political dialogue forum. I will certainly be stressing that point because it is urgent. We need to get onto the forum as urgently as possible."

Laisenia Qarase says all political parties are anxious for the Forum to be held as soon as possible.

The Interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has already held meetings with the Commonwealth and United Nations officials.

His permanent secretary Parmesh Chand told the Fiji Times he will not disclose what was discussed in the meeting.