BAINIMARAMA MEETS ONE-ON-ONE WITH SOMARE

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT MORESBY 000241


DEPT FOR EAP/EX, EAP/ANP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/5/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PP FJ
SUBJECT: BAINIMARAMA MEETS ONE-ON-ONE WITH SOMARE

REF: SUVA 417

CLASSIFIED BY: Leslie V. Rowe, Ambassador, U.S. Embassy Port
Moresby, U.S. Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) Summary: On December 5, the second anniversary of the
coup in Fiji, Interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama met
one-on-one with Prime Minister and Grand Chief Michael Somare in
Port Moresby. According to Foreign Minister Abal, Somare
impressed upon Bainimarama the Pacific Islands Forum position
that Fiji should hold elections in March 2009. Bainimarama left
in the afternoon en route to Solomon Islands for a similar
meeting with Prime Minister Derek Sikua. Bainimarama may be
using these meetings to split Papua New Guinea and Solomon
Islands off from the Forum position on Fiji. End Summary.


2. (C) Foreign Minister Sam Abal held a briefing on the December
5 Somare-Bainimarama meeting for members of the diplomatic
corps. The High Commissioners from Australia, New Zealand, and
Solomon Islands, the French Ambassador, representatives from the
EU and the UK, and the Ambassador attended. Abal said that PNG
had asked Bainimarama to stop in Port Moresby as he transited
back from Brussels. He apologized that he was not present at
the Somare meeting since Fiji requested that it be one-on-one.
However, he spoke briefly to Somare who left shortly afterwards
for Lae. Somare said that he pressed the Forum position - March
2009 elections for Fiji - with Bainimarama. Somare told him
that he should be working toward elections and should give the
Forum an idea of the timeframe. Bainimarama reportedly
apologized to Somare for not attending the August Forum meeting
in Niue.


3. (C) MCG to Fiji Next Week: Abal said that in addition to
urging Bainimarama to move toward elections, Somare also offered
PNG assistance in the electoral process. Abal said that the
Ministerial Contact Group (MCG) will meet with Bainimarama in
Fiji on December 11 at 9:00 AM. The MCG will also reiterate to
Bainimarama the Forum's position on elections. Abal has asked
to call on Bainimarama on December 10 "to protect his Prime
Minister." This will be followed by the Leaders meeting which
Prime Minister Somare will host on January 27 in Port Moresby.


4. (C) Suspension Not an Idle Threat: The Australian High
Commissioner commented that the Forum's stand to suspend Fiji if
it does not move toward democracy is not an idle threat. He
said that the possibility of suspension is serious and that Fiji
could also be suspended from the Commonwealth. He stressed that
the Forum leaders, including PM Somare (demonstrated by his
offer to host the January meeting) are serious. He asked Abal
what he thought the outcome of the MCG meeting might be. Abal
repeated that he had not attended Somare's meeting today and
could not speculate on next week's meeting. He said that the
Ministers would make recommendations to the Forum afterwards.
He commented that it is a very short timeframe between the MCG
meeting and the January 27 Leaders meeting.


5. (C) The Solomon Islands High Commissioner said that he had
sent a message to Honiara saying that Somare had held to the
Forum position and urged Prime Minister Sikua to do the same.
He commented that it appeared that March elections in Fiji are
unlikely and that "it would be an uphill battle for the MCG next
week." Abal responded that he views it as "an achievement that
Bainimarama allowed the MCG to go to Fiji" next week. The
Ambassador asked if Bainimarama's meetings with the PNG and SI
Prime Ministers and the MCG meeting might indicate any change in
Bainimarama's thinking. Abal said that the meetings represented
the "Pacific way" of engaging in constant dialogue. Abal also
noted that Bainimarama had met with Louis Michel, the EU
Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Assistance, on
November 14 in Brussels. He asked the French Ambassador and EU
representative if they had any information on the meeting. They
responded that they had not been briefed.


6. (C) Abal said that Bainimarama invited Pacific leaders for a
reception during September's UNGA to apologize and explain why
he had not come to the Forum meeting in Niue. Abal said he told
Bainimarama that the Grand Chief was unhappy with him.
Bainimarama apologized but Abal told him he should come in
person to apologize. He also pushed Bainimarama to allow the
MCG to meet in Fiji saying that he could not expect his actions
to be viewed as legitimate by the Forum members if he would not
allow the meeting. Bainimarama retorted, "If you want
legitimacy, wait for the court decisions."


7. (C) View from Solomon Islands: After the meeting, the
Ambassador spoke to the Solomon Islands High Commissioner. He
said that he thought Bainimarama had come to PNG and SI to tell
Fiji's side of the story, in the hope that he could split two
prominent Prime Ministers off from the Forum position. He sent
the message to his Prime Minister to maintain the Forum position
with Bainimarama because "divided we fall." He said he saw
Bainimarama off at the Port Moresby airport before he left for

Honiara and that his attitude was "very military, confident and
abrupt."


8. (C) Comment: On his stop in Port Moresby Bainimarama
appeared to be confident about his position. However, it
doesn't appear that he persuaded either PM Somare in PNG or PM
Sikua in Solomon Islands as he attempted to explain Fiji's side
of the story. It is unclear whether these stops, next week's
MCG meeting in Fiji, or the Leaders' January meeting in Port
Moresby will have much effect on Bainimarama -- or Fiji's return
to democracy -- any time soon. End Comment.


ROWE