VZCZCXRO8054
RR RUEHPB
DE RUEHSV #0175/01 1281429
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 071429Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY SUVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0517
INFO RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2019
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 0001
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0222
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 1540
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0116
RUEHNZ/AMCONSUL AUCKLAND 0642
RUEHDN/AMCONSUL SYDNEY 1052
RHHJJAA/JICPAC HONOLULU HI
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SUVA 000175 
 
SIPDIS 
 
MANILA FOR ADB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2018 
TAGS: EAID EFIN PROV PREL FJ
SUBJECT: DONOR COUNTRIES ADVISE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK TO 
LIE LOW IN FIJI 
 
REF: SUVA 155 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Larry M. Dinger 
 
Summary 
-------- 
¶1. (C)  On May 7, representatives of the United States, 
Australia, New Zealand, PNG and the UK told the head of the 
regional Asian Development Bank Office in Suva they hoped ADB 
would not push forward with any new initiatives in Fiji for 
the time being. In light of the recent expulsion of Fiji 
Times publisher Evan Hannah and continued mixed signals from 
the Interim Government (IG) about holding elections early 
next year, governments and international organizations need 
to keep the pressure on.  Several representatives advised ADB 
to reevaluate its plans after the August Forum Leaders' 
meeting, when IG intentions might be clearer.  The PNG High 
Commissioner to Fiji said Fiji's international partners 
should have no illusions that elections will be held as 
scheduled given what interim PM Bainimarama told the leaders 
of Papua New Guinea and Tonga in April.  He urged the 
international community to begin considering how it will 
react if and when the IG says elections are delayed.  End 
Summary. 
 
IG Pressing ADB to Do More in Fiji 
---------------------------------- 
¶2. (C)  Sirpa Jarvenpaa, Regional Director of the ADB 
Subregional Office in Suva, organized a meeting of key donors 
May 7 to discuss prospects for future ADB programs in Fiji. 
ADB is presently only continuing work on projects started 
before the coup.  The organization has initiated nothing new 
since December 2006.  Jarvenpaa said Interim Finance Minister 
Chaudhry recently sent a "very forceful" letter to ADB 
officials at the annual meeting in Madrid, arguing that ADB 
inaction is negatively impacting the people of Fiji and 
contrasting ADB with the World Bank, which Chaudhry said is 
fully engaged.  (Note:  Chaudhry attended the ADB annual 
meeting that concluded earlier this week.) Jarvenpaa and 
Susan Adams, head of the Pacific Financial Technical 
Assistance Center operated by the IMF, said Chaudhry's 
statement about the World Bank may be overblown. Some World 
Bank staff visits and technical missions have taken place in 
recent months, but no new projects have been agreed to. 
Nevertheless, Jarvenpaa proposed, it may make sense for ADB 
to consider restarting some technical, preparatory work on 
proposed new projects, so that ADB will be in a better 
position to assist Fiji after the return of a democratically 
elected government.  For example, ADB could start work now on 
a feasibility study for a new port project near Suva - a 
project that could contribute to long-term economic growth in 
Fiji. 
 
Donors Less Than Enthusiastic About New ADB Initiatives 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
¶3.  (C)  The Acting New Zealand High Commissioner to Fiji, 
reading from points cleared in Wellington, said New Zealand 
supports the continuation of existing technical support to 
Fiji, but believes new ADB engagement with Fiji at this time 
would send the wrong message to the IG.  Representatives from 
the U.S. (the DCM) and the UK expressed support for the New 
Zealand position.  Australia and PNG added concerns about the 
current situation in Fiji and IG intentions to hold elections 
as scheduled.  The U.S. representative added that work on the 
feasibility study noted by Jarvenpaa appeared to signal a 
level of "reengagement" that the U.S. probably could not 
support, since such a study would require extensive new 
consultations with the IG and would be publicized.  The 
Acting NZ High Commissioner and other representatives 
suggested to Jarvenpaa that ADB should review its future 
programs with Fiji again after the August Forum Leaders' 
Meeting in Niue.  Perhaps after that meeting, they said, IG 
intentions will be clearer. 
 
PNG Representative Paints Gloomy Picture 
---------------------------------------- 
¶4.  (C)  Peter Eafeare, the PNG High Commissioner to Fiji and 
Chair of the Forum-Fiji Joint Working Group, said the ADB 
should have no illusions that elections will take place early 
next year as scheduled.  Eafeare said that at the April 10 
informal meeting in Nadi among interim PM Bainimarama, PNG PM 
 
SUVA 00000175  002 OF 002 
 
 
Somare and Tonga PM Sevele (reftel), Bainimarama made it 
clear he wants to delay elections, invoking concerns ranging 
from the inclement weather prevalent in Fiji in March to the 
likely unavailability of school facilities in the March 
timeframe (most previous elections have utilized school 
facilities during school holiday periods.)  At the April 10 
meeting, and later in a letter to Bainimarama, Somare and 
Sevele stressed the need for the IG to speak with one voice 
on the election, instead of the scattered and inconsistent 
statements from various IG officials that are now the norm. 
While Bainimarama agreed with that point in the April 10 
meeting, the IG hasn't changed its habits at all since then, 
said Eafeare.  Numerous IG officials continue to make 
confusing and inconsistent statements about the proposed 
elections.  While Bainimarama, Somare and Sevele agreed in 
April to hold another round of discussions, Eafeare has 
advised his PM to decline any invitations to join in a second 
informal meeting, believing it would merely be used by 
Bainimarama as a "propaganda tool." 
 
¶5.  (C)  Eafeare thinks Bainimarama is in a "political cul de 
sac," caught between his commitment to the People's Charter 
process and his promise to Forum Leaders to hold elections by 
March 2009.  Bainimarama seems quite bewildered that the 
international community hasn't bought into the People's 
Charter and the National Council for Building a Better Fiji - 
an organization Eafeare said appears to be morphing into an 
unelected "mini-Parliament."  The Pacific Island Forum and 
others in the international community need to begin 
considering now what actions to invoke if and when the IG 
says elections won't take place as scheduled, he said. 
 
ADB Gets the Message 
-------------------- 
¶6.  (C)  At the conclusion of the meeting, Jarvenpaa said she 
had received a clear message from the assembled delegates - 
no action now, and wait until August to reevaluate.  She 
promised to make those views known to ADB Headquarters in 
Manila. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶7.  (C)  Jarvenpaa is clearly anxious to get ADB programs in 
Fiji moving again, especially in light of her apparent 
perception that the World Bank continues to actively engage 
with the interim regime.  We continue to recommend that the 
ADB take a go-slow approach.  If Eafeare is right about the 
need for the international community to begin considering 
what actions to invoke if and when elections are delayed, 
this is hardly the time to signal new programs in Fiji. 
 
 
 
 
 
DINGER