Fiji's main opposition Labour Party said Friday it had resolved a stand-off with the nation's military government over whether it needed to submit online statements for vetting before publication.
Fiji's information ministry this week criticised the party's website for allegedly posting "mischievous" statements and demanded in a letter that all future media releases be submitted for approval under new tough media laws.
"It has been noted that the Fiji Labour Party has been posting media press releases in its website calculated to undermine the government generally or bring disrepute to particular government officials," said the letter, which the Labour Party put up on its website.
The Pacific island nation's government has censored news outlets since it came to power in a 2006 coup and issued a decree last June further tightening control over the media.
The decree, which says all media outlets must be 90 percent locally owned, has cast doubt over the future of the Fiji Times, the country's largest circulation newspaper, established in 1869.
Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry said he met with information ministry officials Friday and reached agreement on how the party's website would continue to operate under the new rules.
"The media decree is intended mainly for newspapers and broadcast media... it's a bit grey with regards to websites," Chaudhry told AFP.
"We met with the information ministry and resolved amicably how we will proceed."
Chaudhry refused to disclose details of the agreement.
Fiji's self-appointed ruler Voreqe Bainimarama said in an interview with Australian public broadcaster ABC last month that he had to take a hard line against critics as he prepared the country for elections promised in 2014.
"This is not an ordinary government, we're trying to bring about reforms and changes, and for that [it is] understood that at some stage we'll need to shut some people up, and stop this from bringing about instability," he said.
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