Fiji's opposition SODELPA Party leader says he would like to see his country continue to provide United Nations peacekeepers if he's elected prime minister later this year.
This week marks 40 years of Fiji's participation in UN Peacekeeping as a troop provider.
Members of the Fiji Islands UN peackeeping troops perform a guard honour at a memorial monument in the UN headquarters in Baghdad’s Green Zone on August 13, 2008. Photo: CRIS BOURONCLE / AFP
The first contingent of around 500 Fijian soldiers departed for Lebanon in 1978 to help confirm Israel's withdrawal and to aid the restoration of peace and Lebanese government rule.
Fifty-six Fijian peacekeepers have died in active UN service over the last four decades.
SODELPA's Sitiveni Rabuka said he'd like to see UN participation continue but domestically he wanted to restore focus on the military's role in development.
"We'd like to maintain our profile in peacekeeping in the international scene but more in our assistance for development at home," Mr Rabuka said.
"Not so much as a military force but as a construction and development arm of government."
Fiji has contributed more soldiers to UN Peacekeeping than any other nation, on a per capita basis.
Over the years the country has provided personnel across the Middle East, committing up to half its national forces at any one time to multiple UN Peacekeeping missions.
