Labour welcomes Commonwealth statement on PER

[posted 3 Jan 2012,1400]

FLP welcomes the Commonwealth statement on the lifting of the PER and its offer to assist Fiji return to democratically elected government without further delay.

In a statement issued 2 January 2012, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma, welcomed the announcement by the Fiji authorities to lift emergency laws in Fiji and to begin national consultations on a new constitution by February.

Describing it as “a positive step that was long overdue”, Mr Sharma said the CMAG – the custodian of Commonwealth values and principles – had repeatedly urged the authorities in Fiji to lift the PER and respect the human rights of all its people.

He hoped that the national consultations expected to begin in February 2012 “will be fully inclusive and time bound and that they will lead to a genuine national consensus on the constitution, clearing the way for credible elections and the return of a democratically elected government without further delay”.

“The Commonwealth remains ready to engage as a partner and to extend assistance as appropriate towards these ends,” he said.