An Australian National University academic says he has seen no evidence the interim government in Fiji is making progress towards holding elections, less than a month out from a Pacific Islands Forum deadline for it to set an election date.
Jonathan Fraenkel says Fiji's interim leadership appears to be making no effort to meet the May the 1st deadline, or to be on track towards holding elections by the end of the year as demanded by the Forum.
"No I don't think there is much sign of a genuine will to move towards holding elections. In fact the only moves that happen are after some kind of international outcry and then they begrudgingly put together a meeting with political parties."
Jonathan Fraenkel says reports the interim government may shut out some political parties from talks aimed at building a consensus towards elections further damage the credibility of efforts to restore parliamentary democracy in Fiji.
