"saying that the Minister had no authority to discipline the Commander, as it was the President, not the Minister, who was Commander in Chief of the Military. By 9 October, Vosanibola had apparently adopted a more conciliatory position, telling Fiji Village that the disagreement between the commander and the Australian Foreign Minister was personal in nature, and that no disciplinary action would be taken. Military unrest following the 2000 Fijian coup d'état Following the quashing of George Speight's civilian coup d'état in 2000, the Military handed power over to a civilian administration led by the banker, Laisenia Qarase, who won"
"may attend most functions and organs of the Commonwealth, but are not invited to attend Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings. They are, although limited in these respects, still considered members of the Commonwealth. The status was created especially for Nauru, which had an exceptionally small population and area. Nauru was followed by fellow Pacific sovereign state Tuvalu, and then the larger Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Maldives. These progressively gained full membership, leaving none from September 2000. However, Nauru fell behind on its subscription payments, and reverted to a special member in July 2005. Nauru has been a full"
"after the invasion was complete. The list of coalition members provided by the White House included several nations that did not intend to participate in actual military operations. Some of them, such as Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau and Solomon Islands, did not have standing armies. However, through the Compact of Free Association, citizens of the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia are guaranteed US national status and therefore are allowed to serve in the US military. The members of these island nations have deployed in a combined Pacific force consisting of Guamanian, Hawaiian and Samoan reserve units."
"however, interdistrict rivalries were again given expression, now in the form of political contention. Following the second coup, when Fiji left the Commonwealth of Nations, a segment of the Rotuman population, known as the ""Mölmahao Clan"" of Noa’tau rejected the council's decision to remain with the newly declared republic. Arguing that Rotuma had been ceded to the United Kingdom and not to Fiji, these rebels declared in 1987 independence of Republic of Rotuma and were charged with sedition. It did not have any substantive support, majority opinion appears to favor remaining with Fiji, but rumblings of discontent remain. Rotuma Rotuma"
"their own monarchs (Brunei, Lesotho, Malaysia, Samoa, Swaziland, and Tonga). Membership of the Commonwealth is by common assent of the existing members, and this principle applies equally to territories gaining independence from the UK and to outside territories requesting membership. Until 2007, Commonwealth members that changed their internal constitutional structure to that of a republic had to re-apply for membership. Widespread objection to the racial policies in South Africa resulted in that country deciding not to pursue a re-application for Commonwealth membership when it became a republic in 1961. South Africa was subsequently readmitted as a member of the Commonwealth"
"Foreign relations of Fiji Fiji has experienced many coups recently, in 1987, 2000, and 2006. Fiji has been suspended various times from the Commonwealth of Nations, a grouping of mostly former British colonies. It was readmitted to the Commonwealth in December 2001, following the parliamentary election held to restore democracy in September that year, and is currently suspended again because of the 2006 coup. Other Pacific Island governments have generally been sympathetic to Fiji's internal political problems and have declined to take public positions. Fiji became the 127th member of the United Nations on 13 October 1970, and participates actively"
"reduced. Ultimately, the Trusteeship Council came to include only the five permanent Security Council members (China, France, the Soviet Union/Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States), as the only country administering a Trust Territory (the United States) was a permanent member. With the independence of Palau, formerly part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, in 1994, there presently are no trust territories, leaving the Trusteeship Council without responsibilities. (Since the Northern Mariana Islands was a part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and became a commonwealth of the USA in 1986, it is technically"
"population. Only nine percent of the ethnic Fijian electorate had voted for Bavadra's coalition, but even this was an unprecedented feat – a point that was largely overlooked. Bavadra was opposed to nuclear testing, and had hinted that visits by nuclear-armed warships of the United States Navy might not be welcome. Allegations have been made that the United States either supported or allowed Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka to stage the coup on 13 May 1987 that brought down Bavadra's government, allegations that Rabuka has never convincingly denied. Unable to reverse the coup, Governor-General Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau formally dismissed Bavadra on"
"was forced to resign. This history is also interpreted on Saipan at American Memorial Park and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Museum of History and Culture. After the war, nearly all of the surviving Japanese settlers were repatriated to Japan. After the end of World War II, Saipan became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, administered by the United States. The island continued to be dominated by the United States military. Since 1978, the island has been a municipality of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The military presence began to be replaced by"
"Islands"". In 1997, demands for increased autonomy on the islands of Nzwani (Anjouan) and Mwali (Moheli) led to the breakup of the Federal Islamic Republic. In 2001, the government reformed as the ""Union of the Comoros"" under a new constitution which gave each of the three islands more autonomy than had been enjoyed previously. In 2008, President of Anjouan refused to hold free elections. He was forced to flee following military intervention by troops of the Comorian Union and the African Union. The island country continues its present form of confederal government albeit with minor changes approved in a 2009"
"the Republic of Palau achieved more political self governance through the dismantling of the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands. Shortly after World War II, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, not including Guam, was created and administered by the United States. In the 1970s work began to dissolve the Trust Territory as the districts voted to end their trustee status. The last district to gain political independence was Palau in 1994. The Northern Mariana Islands is now a US Commonwealth and its people US citizens. The Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the"
"the Sri Lankan military. The Civil Air Services Authority suspended all FitsAir flights to Jaffna Airport between 10 and 18 November 2013, allegedly to restrict foreign access to the north of the country. Of the 53 Commonwealth members, only 27 heads of government/state (nine presidents, 16 prime ministers, one sultan and one governor general) attended the meeting, the lowest in decades. 22 other members sent other delegates such as foreign ministers, vice-presidents, deputy prime ministers and high commissioners. Three members - Grenada, Kiribati and Maldives - did not attend and Fiji was suspended from the Commonwealth. The participants were: Commonwealth"
"in the commonwealth to reflect its greater self-government, which had established a political union with the United States in the previous year under a public plebiscite. The Commonwealth was officially established in January 1978, and as the constitution prescribed, the first House of Representatives had 14 members (12 from Saipan). Over the years, as permitted by the constitution, House membership was increased to 20 (18 from Saipan) beginning with the 16th Legislature in 2008, the Constitutional maximum. The Northern Mariana Islands' election calendar was one of the few political divisions in the United States where general elections were held in"
"go,"""" he defiantly declared) the group, including the army commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, former Prime Minister and 1987 Coup Leader Sitiveni Rabuka, former military commander Ratu Epeli Ganilau (a son-in-law of Mara's), and a former Police Commissioner Isikia Savua, are alleged to have asked for, and possibly forced, Mara's resignation. He was subsequently taken to his home island of Lakeba in the Lau Islands. For the 80-year-old president, who was seen as the father of the country and had led it, in one capacity or another, for more than 40 years, it was an anticlimactic end. The military regime that"
"1987. Following the 2000 coup, however, its integrity was compromised, in the eye of many, when three judges (including Daniel Fatiaki, who later became Chief Justice) advised then-President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara to abrogate the constitution. Mara refused and resigned; a military administration replaced him. Then Chief Justice recognised the military government, triggering widespread disappointment to those who had seen the judiciary as a model of independence. On 15 November 2000, however, the High Court forced the reinstatement of the 1997 Constitution, which had been abrogated in June following the forced resignation of President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara on 29"
"resignation of Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed among the reasons for withdrawal. The Ministry characterized the decision to withdraw as ""difficult, but inevitable"". Following the election of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as president in November 2018, the Maldives announced its intention to reapply to join the Commonwealth. Although heads of government have the power to suspend member states from active participation, the Commonwealth has no provision for the expulsion of members. Until 1948, there was a consensus among the existing half-dozen Commonwealth members that a Commonwealth realms that became a republic would ceased to be members but the situation changed in 1948"
"following in the 1970s and 1980s. The South Pacific Forum was founded in 1971, which became the Pacific Islands Forum in 2000. Bougainville Island, geographically part of the Solomon Islands archipelago but politically part of Papua New Guinea, tried unsuccessfully to become independent in 1975, and a civil war followed in the early 1990s, with it later being granted autonomy. On 1 May 1979, in recognition of the evolving political status of the Marshall Islands, the United States recognized the constitution of the Marshall Islands and the establishment of the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The constitution"
"the BRA. In Port Moresby, there was an attempted military coup against the government following the decision to withdraw; it was defeated. In May 1990, Papua New Guinea imposed a blockade on Bougainville. Francis Ona responded by unilaterally declaring independence. He set up the Bougainville Interim Government (BIG), but it had little power, and the island began to descend into disarray. The command structure set up by the BRA seldom had any real control over the various groups throughout the island that claimed to be part of the BRA. A number of """" (criminal) gangs that were affiliated with the"
"in May 1999. Since independence, Nauru had been a special member of the Commonwealth prior to 1999, but having fallen behind in payments, reverted to Special Member Status on 1 July 2005, with no authoritative power. It then returned to be a full member again on June 2011. Additionally outside the region, Nauru is a member or participant of the ACP (Lomé Convention), the Alliance of Small Island States, the Asian Development Bank, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the G-77, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Olympic"
"emblematic representation by the secretariat. On 19 March 2014 Fiji's full suspension was amended to a suspension from councils of the Commonwealth by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, permitting Fiji to join a number of Commonwealth activities, including the Commonwealth Games. Fiji's suspension was lifted in September 2014. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group fully reinstated Fiji as a member following elections in September 2014. Most recently, during 2013 and 2014, international pressure mounted to suspend Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth, citing grave human rights violations by the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. There were also calls to change the Commonwealth"
"Ram Reddy, rejected this. Democratic rule was interrupted by two military coups in 1987 precipitated by a growing perception that the government was dominated by the Indo-Fijian (Indian) community. The second 1987 coup saw both the Fijian monarchy and the Governor General replaced by a non-executive president and the name of the country changed from ""Dominion of Fiji"" to ""Republic of Fiji"" and then in 1997 to ""Republic of the Fiji Islands"". The two coups and the accompanying civil unrest contributed to heavy Indo-Fijian emigration; the resulting population loss resulted in economic difficulties and ensured that Melanesians became the majority."
"in 1947 as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 21. Four of the Trust Territory districts joined together and formed the Federated States of Micronesia in 1979, but the districts of Palau and the Marshall Islands declined to participate. Palau, the westernmost cluster of the Carolines, instead opted for independent status in 1978, which was widely supported by the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan. It approved a new constitution and became the Republic of Palau on 1 January 1981. It signed a Compact of Free Association with the United States in 1982."
"Melanesian Spearhead Group The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) is an intergovernmental organization, composed of the four Melanesian states of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front of New Caledonia. In June 2015, Indonesia was recognized as an associate member. It was founded as a political gathering in 1986. On 23 March 2007, members signed the ""Agreement Establishing the Melanesian Spearhead Group"", formalizing the group under international law. It is headquartered in Port Vila, Vanuatu. A secretariat building was constructed by the People's Republic of China and handed over to the MSG"
"the United States to implement UN Security Council Resolution 940, which led to the restoration of the democratically elected Government of Haiti in October 1994. Costa Rica was among the first to call for a postponement of the May 22 elections in Peru when international observer missions found electoral machinery not prepared for the vote count. Costa Rica is also a member of the International Criminal Court, without a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military (as covered under Article 98) In 1987, then President Óscar Arias authored a regional plan that served as the basis for the Esquipulas"
"October 21, 1986. ""Palau"" did so in 1994. All three nations signed Compacts of Free Association with the United States. In 1925, to correct an unintended effect from an earlier treaty, the U.S. ceded to Canada two enclaves comprising two and one-half acres of water territory in the Lake of the Woods. The Northern Mariana Islands were part of the former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands but decided in the 1970s not to seek independence. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in political union with the United States was established in 1978. The United States Military Government of"
"to neighbouring New Caledonia, as well as East Timor and West Papua, who all received Vanuatu's support at the United Nations. Vanuatu notably angered Indonesia by allowing the Free Papua Movement to open an office in Port-Vila. Vanuatu in the 1980s was the only country in Oceania not to align with the Western bloc in the dying stages of the Cold War. Rejecting support either for the West or for the East, Vanuatu joined the Non-Aligned Movement in 1983, and only established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and the United States in June and September 1986, respectively. In keeping"
"the Pelly Amendment. The threatened application in 1980 of the Packwood-Magnuson and Pelly Amendments led South Korea to agree to follow IWC guidelines restricting the use of cold (i.e. non-explosive) harpoons. Faced with similar pressure, the Republic of China (Taiwan) placed a complete ban on whaling in 1981. Without United States support, it is possible that the 1986 moratorium would have been substantially limited, as nations such as Iceland, Japan, Norway and the Soviet Union would have opted out and continued commercial whaling. The moratorium on commercial whaling led Iceland to withdraw in protest from the IWC, as it had"
"(1995)), and two permanent observers (Holy See (1979), Palestine (1999)). Seventeen state members have withdrawn from the organization for different periods in the past: Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Grenada, Honduras, Kuwait, Latvia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, Thailand, United Kingdom and Puerto Rico (as an associate member). The Netherland Antilles was an associate member before its dissolution. Non-members are: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Comoros, Denmark, Dominica, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Guyana, Iceland, Ireland, Kiribati, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the"
"United States, and the United Nations have all expressed concern at the situation, with Kofi Annan having made a public statement and personally spoken to both President Iloilo and Prime Minister Qarase. On 10 December, the International Federation of Netball Associations announced that Fiji, which had been scheduled to host the 2007 Netball World Championships, had been stripped of its hosting rights as a direct result of the coup. The Commonwealth suspended Fiji's membership on 8 December 2006. Its Secretary General, Don McKinnon, has stated that Bainimarama should resign and that the coup is a total violation of Commonwealth principles."
"tuna supply and approximately 60% of the western and central Pacific tuna supply. Vanuatu endorsed the Treaty of Rarotonga (the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty) in 1995. Vanuatu has been a member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie since 1979 (the year before it gained independence from France). Vanuatu was admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations in 1980 and to the United Nations in 1981. Vanuatu is currently the only Pacific nation that belongs to the Non-Aligned Movement, Additionally outside the region, Vanuatu is a member or participant of the ACP (Lomé Convention), the Alliance of Small Island"
"The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands later became a U.S. territory following its exit from the TTPI pursuant to Security Council Resolution 683. Although now both under U.S. control, the Northern Mariana Islands have not reunited with the territory of Guam, in part due to residual post-war tensions resulting from the very different histories of Guam (occupied by Japan for only 31 months, in wartime) and the Northern Mariana Islands (more peacefully occupied by Japan, for about 30 years). See the main articles above for discussion of present-day politics in these territorial areas. Tourism in the Northern Marianas is"
"1987, shortly after a coalition government was formed that represented both communities, two military coups were staged by low-ranking Fijian officers that aimed at sidelining the Indian community in politics. Ethnic Indians outnumbered indigenous Fijians from 1956 through the late 1980s. This was due to the death of 1/3 of the indigenous population, mainly male and children, that died from smallpox contracted when King Cakobau and other chief leaders returned from a trip from Australia during which they caught smallpox. The percentage of Indigenous female population increased as a result, and the native male population was scarce at one stage,"
"most indigenous Fijians supported. These negotiations culminated in the Deuba Accord of 23 September 1987, which provided for a government of national unity, in which both parties would be represented under the leadership of the Governor-General. Fearing that the gains of the first coup were about to be lost, Rabuka staged a second coup on 25 September. Australia and New Zealand, the two nations with foremost political influence in the region, were somewhat disquieted by the event, but ultimately took no action to intervene. They did, however, establish a policy of non-recognition regarding the new government, suspending foreign aid in"