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R 060525Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY SUVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1369
INFO RUEHAP/AMEMBASSY APIA 0304
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0376
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2306
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RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0464
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0023

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SUVA 000282 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO EAP PDAS MARCIEL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/06/2019 
TAGS: PREL KDEM FJ
SUBJECT: MELANESIAN SPEARHEAD GROUP LEADERS TO MEET FIJI 
STRONGMAN BAINIMARAMA 
 
REF: A. SUVA 279 
     ¶B. SUVA 267 
 
Classified By: Ambassador C. Steven McGann for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY.  Papua New Guinea (PNG) High Commissioner 
Peter Eafeare warns that the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) 
meeting planned for July 10 must reaffirm directly to Fiji 
strongman Bainimarama MSG support for the Pacific Islands 
Forum (PIF) position regarding Fiji.  Otherwise, MSG retreat 
from support of the PIF would likely fracture the PIF while 
signaling a potentially contentious leaders meeting in Cairns 
in August.  Port Moresby is weighing whether to call for a 
foreign ministers meeting before Cairns in order to address 
the issue of Fiji in a way that will prevent it from 
dominating yet another Forum summit.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) During a call on July 6 by Ambassador McGann and 
DCM Pruett, PNG High Commissioner Peter Eafeare, the dean of 
Suva,s diplomatic corps, discussed preparations for the MSG 
meeting planned for July 10 in Port Vila, Vanuatu.  Vanuatu 
currently chairs the MSG, which also includes Fiji, Papua New 
Guinea, and Solomon Islands.   The MSG members have invited 
Fiji strongman Frank Bainimarama to explain Fiji,s position 
and to explore the possibility of a common MSG posture 
regarding Fiji within the PIF. 
¶3.  (C) As the sole diplomatic representative of an MSG 
country resident in Suva, Eafeare said he believes it 
critically important to the integrity of the MSG that it 
support the PIF in its dealings with Fiji.  He revealed that 
he is seeking to consult with PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael 
Somare by telephone to appeal for his personal diplomacy in 
shaping the Port Vila meeting for a successful outcome. 
Eafeare felt that Somare should intercede personally with 
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Dr. Derek Sikua and perhaps 
Vanuatu Prime Minister Edward Natapei in advance of the 
meeting, in order to impress upon them the need for a united 
front in dealing with Bainiamarama.  Both Sikua and Natapei 
have shown sympathy for Fiji and a certain degree of naivete, 
observed Eafeare.   Somare, however, has plumbed the depth of 
his patience in dealing with Bainimarama, having been burned 
more than once by the dictator after committing his personal 
prestige to outreach attempts. 
¶4.  (C) Eafeare argued that whatever their personal 
misgivings about the PIF,s stand on Fiji, the MSG leaders 
would need to take a stand consistent with the unanimous 
declaration of the PIF Special Leaders Meeting on Fiji in 
Port Moresby in January.  If not, the Port Vila meeting could 
open the latent fissure within the PIF on the issue of Fiji, 
which could lead to Kiribati, Tonga and Tuvalu--and probably 
Micronesia and the Marshall Islands--joining with the MSG, 
which would tend to isolate Australia, New Zealand, and Samoa 
on the issue.  Eafeare disclosed that the suggestion had 
already been vetted of an "MSG-Plus" meeting to include these 
same countries, but the idea was struck in recognition of its 
divisive impact on the PIF. 
¶5.  (C)  Eafeare,s best case scenario for the Port Vila 
meeting envisions a united front to Bainimarama that urges 
him to bring forward elections in Fiji to 2011, vice the 
September 2014 date Bainimarama declared as part of Fiji,s 
"Roadmap" on July 1 (Ref A).  Eafeare agreed that Bainimarama 
seldom reverses himself publicly, but he noted that if 
Bainimarama chose, he could convene a new Leaders of 
Political Parties meeting to include Fiji,s opposition 
parties.  Bainimarama could then deem the meeting successful 
enough to allow the proposed next step, the inauguration of 
the President,s Political Dialogue Forum, to proceed without 
delay. 
¶6.  (C) Even this best case scenario would tend to thrust the 
issue of Fiji to the forefront of the PIF Leaders Meeting 
agenda, despite the wishes of PIF Chair Australia and other 
PIF members to shelve the issue of Fiji for now in order to 
concentrate on other important issues, such as regional 
 
SUVA 00000282  002 OF 002 
 
 
institutional restructuring and a regional trade agreement. 
To avoid such an outcome, Eafeare said he intended to suggest 
to his government that it propose a foreign ministers meeting 
in advance of Cairns.  The meeting would have the sole 
purpose of reviewing the issue of Fiji after the Port Vila 
meeting and of dealing with it in such a way as to keep the 
meeting at Cairns focused on these other issues, even while 
conceding that the question of Fiji,s status will 
necessarily impact on all of them. 
¶7.  (C) The MSG meeting in Port Vila is a prelude to a 
variety of interactions likely to involve Fiji,s de facto 
government in the run-up to Cairns.  For example, the 
Australian High Commission in Suva now informs us that its 
high commissioner has been given the green light to pursue a 
meeting with Bainimarama.  Although a tactical loosening of 
its engagement policy, this change in Canberra,s approach 
does not intend to confer any sense of legitimacy on 
Bainimarama,s government.  It does recognize, however, that 
the question of Fiji,s political future weighs on the 
region,s ability to fully address other Pacific issues, and 
it brings Canberra in closer alignment with the steps already 
taken by the British High Commission and Embassy Suva. 
MCGANN