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IN PHOTO: Fiji's Military Commander Frank Bainimarama smiles as he arrives to give a statement to the news media at Queen Elizabeth Barracks in the nation's capital Suva December 6, 2006. Bainimarama said on Wednesday that troops would quickly suppress any uprising, as the country's deposed prime minister called for non-violent protests after Fiji was hit by its fourth coup in 20 years. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has shown slight flexibility towards his prior refusal to participate in the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), but insisted, he will refrain from personally attending meetings until the "undue influence" of Australia and New Zealand is discussed. "We will continue to participate in all forum activities at the public service, technical and ministerial levels," Mr. Bainimarama said.

In 2009, the intergovernmental forum suspended Fiji for its inability to bring democracy back into the country after a military coup in 2006. The former Fiji military commander, Frank Bainimarama, who orchestrated the 2006 coup, has sworn in as the country’s Prime Minister for yet another term in 2014.

Though he has been Prime Minister of the Pacific since 2007, only after his democratic win last year, PIF lifted the ban. Mr. Bainimarama's Fiji First Party won 59.2 per cent of the vote in that election.

Last year April, Fiji declared it wouldn’t renew its membership to the PIF if Australia and New Zealand were not expelled as members. As the PM said at that time his country no longer believed the forum was capable of serving the interests of all Pacific Islanders.

Meanwhile in 2012, an alternative group, the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) was fomalised as Fiji’s answer to PIF. Mr. Bainimarama said Australia and New Zealand, PIF's major funders, are not island nations, but "more development partners".

The Prime Minister gave his reason behind his refusal to participate, saying, "This is not some ill-considered position based on resentment against Australia and New Zealand for their punitive attitude towards our reform program that produced the first genuine democracy in Fijian history."

While Australia and New Zealand are definitely the important members among the 16 PIF member states, Australia understands the importance of Fiji and welcomed its participation "in regional organisations, including the PIF," said a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman to the ABC.

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