 Good morning. I'm Ernie Bauer with the CSIS Southeast Asia Program, and we're honored to be here this morning with Ambassador Winston Thompson, the ambassador of Fiji to the United States. Good morning, Ambassador. The New Year's Day declaration by the Commodore of the end of emergency rule in Fiji has put a lot of questions in people's minds about where Fiji is headed in terms of elect possible elections, return to democratic process. Can you tell us a little bit about what's happening there with with regard to the emergency rule? Well, the removal, which actually is taking place today in Fiji, being Saturday there, was set out in the in the plan and the roadmap that the Prime Minister, Banu Marama, announced in July of 2009, whereby over the period until September of 2014 when elections would take place, it was various things that were supposed to happen. In the first three years was to be social economic development and modification in the legal system, updating of the legal system, because many of our laws go back to even before our independence in 1970s, a lot of this, particularly that the terrorism that has arisen over the last decade or so has become much more significant. So those things had to be done. And then the Constitution was to be reviewed and then elections to take place in 2014. So the removal of the public emergency regulations today is merely the next step in that process. So this has been followed all along. We're quite following the plan that was set out. So it sounds like you're quite confident that the next step is the is the to revise the Constitution and you think you're on track for elections in 2014. Yeah, very much so because the setting up of the committee, the structure to carry out that review is going to be announced next month and this will take place throughout this year, completed next year, and under that new Constitution elections would then be held in 2014. Could you address what changes the government plans to make in the Constitution? What areas of the Constitution would be updated and and changed? Well, many in the area of representation because the Constitution we have which was brought in in 1997 was based on the 1990 Constitution, our independence Constitution, and that took into account the historical background, colonial background that we had, where we had two large components in our population, roughly half, and so provisions put into the Constitution to recognize that division, dichotomy. But that in fact is what has caused the continuing tensions and this is what is to be removed. So that intention in the new Constitution is to remove any racial reference out of it. So that becomes a non-racial Constitution. Everybody's equal. Everybody's vote and value is equal. So one man, one vote, no matter who you are. And what's the timing for the elections in 2014? September, September 2014. What are the prospects for genuine reconciliation between the parties in Fiji? You're talking about the political process, but on the ground, how do you see that reconciliation process? On the ground, there's always been good relations between all the communities. But the fact that the Constitution entrenched the recognition of communal separation is what the government feels is the cause of the problem. So the intention in the revision of the Constitution is to remove that, so that at least everyone is there's one name for everyone, which there wasn't before, and there is hopefully a sense of unity that could be generated because of that. Hillary Clinton and in particular Kirk Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, have talked about the need for the United States to refocus on Asia in general, and they've talked a lot about this, the Pacific. Also being more, the United States being more active in the Pacific. What's Fiji's perspective on that? Should the United States be more active in the Pacific? What can we do? And could you talk a little bit about other countries or other nations, China, India, the Southeast Asians, are they being more active in the Pacific also? Well, America has always been in the Pacific. As far as we're concerned, we have a large Peace Corps contingent in Fiji. They've been there since 1968, except for a short period when they weren't there. And they have a big diplomatic presence in Seoul, because that is the sort of center of that part of the region. So now part of the Pacific, the Americans have always been there, but in many ways they've left it to Australia and New Zealand to sort of look after the broad interests of that alliance. And we feel certainly that the way Australia has been managing it has not been the best way to deal with the situation we have in Fiji. Sure, they have problems with our what happened, but really the way they've addressed it has not helped. They haven't changed anything in the timetable that is set out for return to elections. And in fact, they've probably made things worse rather than better. So very diplomatically, I think I heard you just say that if the United States wants to be more active, we should engage directly and not through sort of proxy relationships with the Kiwis and the Australians. Is that right? We think so. What's the state of Fiji's economy? What does it look like? What are the prospects for the economy and what do you see in the future? Well, we're a small, very small open economy. We rely on trade, import and export trade. We don't have any serious restrictions in that we're a member of the WTO. And over the period since 2006, we could have done better economically. GDP growth has only been very low in the low figures. But that's probably a powerful the rest much of the rest of the world. Anyway, we've all been suffering. We could have done better if if we had not had sanctions imposed on us by by some countries, we probably would have done better. A lot of a lot of observers say that China has stepped up its game in the Pacific. And this is a reason that the United States should should also, you know, re refocus. Is that true? I mean, would you say that you've seen China more proactive over the last decade in Fiji? Not any more than they have been. They've been there since independence, in fact, since before independence. OK. And they've been a continuous partner over the years. I think if there's been any stepping up over the last few years, it's because other partners have fallen off. I see. That they have come in because Fiji has had to refocus its its engagements and its partners over the last seven or eight years in order to maintain its economic momentum. And China has been very much very much there. Last year in the Pacific Island Forum, I think it was held in New Zealand. The Americans had the largest ever and most senior delegation there. And I think the Pacific Island Forum, the PIF, has its secretariat in Fiji. Have you been able to participate fully in the PIF with the with the sanctions regime that exists? And what's Fiji's perspective on the PIF and what do you see going forward? Well, Fiji has been suspended from its membership of the Pacific Island Forum. And it's a bit sort of incongruous that the headquarters is based in Fiji. But they have been allowed to operate quite normally. I don't think there's been any restrictions imposed upon them. They're quite free to come and go and operate because Fiji will resume its membership in due course. So things will move on. But in the meantime, Fiji's had to, for instance, work through its association with other Pacific islands, other than Australia and New Zealand, in what has become known as the Pacific Small Island Developing States. Right. And they caucus as a group, for instance, 12 of them at the United Nations. And they've become a reasonably vocal and visible lobby group within that context. And Fiji is very much a part of that. If you were out on the back porch in Hawaii with President Obama and he asked you, Ambassador, what are the things that we should be doing with Fiji that we're not doing today as the United States? What would be your top-line advice to the President? I think it's mainly to advise or encourage its partners in our part of the world to look at things a bit more long-term rather than just being focused on some of the things that already appear not to have been very productive way of doing things. Ambassador, thank you for joining us at CSIS today for a session of the dialogue. I hope you'll come back soon.