Fiji interim Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama met in Suva on Thursday with the Pacific Islands Forum Ministerial Contact Group to discuss the situation in Fiji.
The Pacific ministers described their discussions with the Fiji interim prime minister and other key stakeholders as "frank and informative," the Suva-based Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat said in a statement.
The Pacific Islands Forum Ministerial Contact Group (MCG), comprising the foreign ministers of Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu, was in Suva to meet with government officials and prominent political party leaders.
The ministers, in the statement, also expressed disappointment that the Fiji interim government had confirmed that it did not intend to hold elections by March 2009, in line with its previous commitments to Forum leaders.
The ministers said the visit reflected Forum members' continued commitment to constructive dialogue with Fiji, and to support and encourage Fiji to return to democracy, within the framework of the decisions of Forum Leaders.
In Fiji, the Ministerial Contact Group held discussions with the Fiji interim prime minister, the Electoral Commission officials and some political party leaders.
The talks focused on the progress of the interim government's preparations for elections, developments in relation to the political dialogue process, and the likelihood of political consensus arising from it, the ministers said in a statement.
Following the talks with the Fiji interim prime minister, newly appointed New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully described the meeting as a "positive" one, the Fiji Times online reported.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith also said the meeting with Bainimarama was good and he was glad to have come back to Fiji for the meeting.
The MCG will be preparing a report on Fiji and its preparedness to hold election in 2009, a report which will be discussed by the Pacific Islands Forum leaders.