By Xinhua,
Wellington : Fiji’s interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama and two of his senior ministers will be allowed to travel through Auckland to Niue next week, despite a travel ban on Fiji’s interim government, the New Zealand Herald daily reported on Wednesday.
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said the ban was lifted to allow Bainimarama to travel to Niue for the Pacific Leaders’ Forum.
Pacific Islands leaders wanted to hear Bainimarama’s explanation for backing away from his promise at the 2007 forum to hold elections by March 2009.
New Zealand placed a ban on travel for members of Fiji’s interim government and their relatives after Bainimarama led the coup which deposed Fiji’s elected government in December 2006.
However, the Fijian delegation will get transit visas to pass through Auckland to travel to Niue on an Air New Zealand flight, which is also expected to be carrying Prime Minister Helen Clark and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
The leaders of the 16 Pacific Islands countries in the Forum are due to discuss what should be done about Fiji’s progress toward elections after Bainimarama backed off from holding elections in March 2009, saying there was not time to make electoral reforms required before the elections.
The leaders will also consider a report from the Forum’s Foreign Ministers who visited Fiji and afterward indicated only “political will” would prevent an election being held in time.