Pacific leaders ready to end Fiji ban after elections

The Pacific island leaders said on Thursday that they are ready to welcome Fiji back to the region's main inter-governmental forum after " free and fair" elections next year. Speaking after the leaders retreat at the annual Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) meeting at Eneko Island, PIF Secretariat Secretary General Tuiloma Neroni Slade said the leaders had also urged the major emitters of greenhouse gases to cut their emissions, which were disproportionately affecting the small nations of the Pacific. The leaders issued the Majuro Declaration calling for greater efforts to accelerate the global response to the climate change, the greatest threat to the security, livelihoods and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific, and other vulnerable countries worldwide. But the readmission of Fiji to the PIF was high on the agenda too after much debate on the country's proposed constitution as it emerges from military rule. "They have made a declaration on Fiji. They have welcomed progress towards elections in September next year, noting that there is now a constitution drafted by the government and recently released, indeed imminently to be brought into force,"said Slade. The leaders were committed to revisiting their decision on the suspension of Fiji and were looking forward to "inviting Fiji back to the forum family" next year, he said. But New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said Fiji probably won' t be at next year's forum, to be held in Palau, as leaders will have to discuss it first. The forum's member states are Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Fiji was suspended from the Forum in May 2009 after it failed to meet a deadline to announce a general election date.