SYDNEY (Pacific Media Watch / ABC Australia): Media in Nauru have been ordered by President Sprent Dabwido not to cover anything of a political nature in the days leading up to the election next month.
The move happened after President Dabwido declared a state of emergency earlier this week following a longstanding political deadlock, ABC Australia reports.
The state of emergency has prompted Nauru's Minister of Finance, Roland Kun, to resign from the country's caretaker government in protest.
Nauru was preparing for national elections on June 22, but President Sprent Dabwido announced a state of emergency, claiming the country was in economic crisis.
As a result of the declaration, the election have been bought forward to the June 8, less than two weeks away.
Kun says there is no logical basis for the decision, claiming the country did have the money needed to operate in caretaker mode till the end of next month, and that he was kept out of cabinet deliberations on the declaration.
Kun has confirmed that Nauru media, which is government owned, has been ordered by the President to refrain from covering politics in the period before the election.
ABC Australia has on a number of occasions unsuccessfully tried to talk to President Dabwido about the election and the state of emergency.
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Pacific Media Watch
