Suva, Fiji: As plans continue on the holding of the National Dialogue Forum, Fiji’s leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama says none of the politicians will be allowed to take part in the forum.

He said politician would also be disallowed from contesting the elections because they have done a lot of damage to the country since 1987.

Commodore Bainimarama said race based policies and politics are built into the system of the politicians of the past, and he would ensure that they are irrelevant come the 2014 elections.

He stressed that a number of politicians from the former ruling party the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), National Federation Party (NFP) and the Labour Party (FLP) would not be allowed to stand for elections in 2014.

No date has been set for the forum as yet.

Meanwhile, the board of Fiji’s Legal Aid Commission has confirmed the appointment of Sunil Sharma as the commission's new director.

Board chairman Christopher Pryde said that out of the applications received, Sharma was the most suitable candidate.  “The board is confident that the day to day management of the Legal Aid Commission is in very capable hands,” Mr Pryde said.

Mr Sharma has been acting in the position since May 2009 after former director Filimoni Vosarogo’s contract was not renewed.

“I am looking at building an efficient, responsive and robust organisation. We have a very energetic, hardworking and dedicated team to support the work of the Commission,” he said.

Mr Sharma said his priority was team building and he would be organising in-house skills and advocacy training for the Commission’s lawyers to be able to deliver a quality service to the public of Fiji.

“The Legal Aid Commission provides a variety of services, in particular in the areas of family and criminal law.

We have a duty lawyer scheme, which is handled by in-house solicitors. Initially it used to be for criminal law but this has been extended to family law matters with the introduction of the Family Law Act 2003.”