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Down Under
Fiji coup leader sworn in as PM
2007-01-05
The leader of a coup in Fiji, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, has been sworn in as interim prime minister, one month after overthrowing the government. Cmdr Bainimarama deposed prime minister Laisenia Qarase and named himself the country's president. However, Cmdr Bainimarama on Thursday returned executive authority to President Ratu Josefa Iloilo.

An interim government is to be appointed and is expected to be dominated by the military. It will remain in power until elections. Mr Bainimarama said at a short swearing-in ceremony on Friday: "In all things, I will be a true and faithful prime minister." Mr Qarase remains banished on an outlying island.
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Down Under
PM leaves Fiji's capital for post-coup army rule
2006-12-06
Fiji's ousted prime minister left the capital Wednesday, the day after a bloodless coup, as international sanctions and censure began isolating the South Pacific country. Armed forces chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama's plan to install a caretaker government that would eventually restore democracy ran into an immediate snag when the country's powerful tribal chiefs' council canceled a meeting that was a key part of it.

Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase flew out of Suva to his home village on the remote northeastern Lau group of islands after spending the night in his city residence surrounded by troops, said Pene Nonu, his private secretary. Qarase, who insists he is still Fiji's legitimate leader, chartered the plane, but left at the request of the military, Nonu said.
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Down Under
Fiji suffers 4th coup in 20 years
2006-12-06
Fiji’s military took over running the country in a bloodless overthrow on Tuesday after confining the elected prime minister to his home in the South Pacific island nation’s fourth coup in 20 years.

Military Commander Frank Bainimarama said he had temporarily stepped into President Ratu Josefa Iloilo’s role as head of state and dismissed the government of Laisenia Qarase after a power struggle that had simmered all year.

Promising that the takeover would not be permanent, Bainimarama said he had appointed little known Jona Senilagakali Baravilala, a former military doctor and political novice, as interim prime minister before fresh elections are called.
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Down Under
Troops disarm police in Fiji
2006-12-05
Fiji's prime minister accused the military of in effect mounting a coup today - after troops disarmed the police, surrounded government buildings, and seized official cars from ministers.

Armed soldiers attempted to force their way into the residence of the prime minister, Laisenia Qarase, in the capital, Suva, as he met his cabinet. They were halted by bodyguards, witnesses told Reuters. "There is virtually a coup now taking place," Mr Qarase told New ZealandRadio. "They have strangled the police force, neutralised them; and now they are strangling the government machinery."

Yesterday's raids on police armouries, and troops appearing on the streets, escalated a crisis that has paralysed the Pacific island state for weeks.

Commodore Frank Bainimarama, head of the armed forces, visited President Ratu Josefa Iloilo earlier today, and Mr Qarase said the president could be decisive in determining the outcome. Mr Qarase has refused to meet Cdre Bainimarama's central demand that he resign, leading the latter to order a gradual takeover of the capital, Suva, since early Monday.
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Down Under
Fiji president 'urging PM to resign'
2006-12-05
Fiji's president has appealed to embattled Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to resign, as the military tightens its grip on the capital, local radio has reported.

The appeal by President Ratu Josefa Iloilo came after military leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama visited the president this morning. Qarase, meeting in his home with members of his cabinet as troops surrounded the house, said a military takeover was inevitable and he was waiting to be taken into custody.

Qarase, in a radio interview, said he had been asked by the president to give in to all of the military's demands, or resign. However he said he had refused the request. Earlier, soldiers briefly secured the street around the prime minister's house in Suva and confiscated his vehicles.
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Down Under
Fiji newspaper staff threatened
2006-12-04
Many of us have a certain disdain for the MSM and journalists in general. Some of that comes from the fact that the journalists and editors at the NYT, etc., risk little and understand little about the hard facts of life. Here's a group of journalists who deserve our support.
Staff at a major Fijian newspaper have been warned they will be “the first people shot” after an army coup. The verbal threats -- by army officers -- and other bomb threats against the Fiji Daily Post have led the newspaper to seek political asylum in Australia for its entire staff.

“We’ve had death threats, bomb threats and our publisher is in and out of hiding after being named by Commander Bainimarama on Friday,” said Editor-in-Chief Robert Wolfgramm in an exclusive interview with ninemsn. “We’re in a state of meltdown and the publisher has suggested we all ask for asylum. The army is moving on certain police buildings as we speak, including the Tactical Response Group headquarters.”

The Fiji Daily Post is owned by the SDL party, headed by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. It has written a number of strongly worded editorials backing constitutional rule in Fiji.

Mr Wolfgramm said his newspaper was sick of the intimidation by certain elements of the army and had to take the threats of violence seriously. “Over the past year we’ve had, at regular intervals, calls from army personnel saying ‘when we take over you are the first people we’ll shoot’.

“It has been escalating with bomb threats as well and then last Friday the Commander named our publisher. We’ve just had enough.” The situation has led the publisher, Mr Alan Hinkling, to recommend asking the Australian High Commission to support applications by staff for asylum.

In its editorials, The Fiji Daily Post has stridently supported the legitimacy of the Qarase government. In an open letter to Commander Bainimarama and his supporters the Post wrote: “You will have a torrid time getting legitimate acceptance of your newfound role from both local and indigenous peoples, and from the international community. Indigenous Fijians are not ethno-nationalists — they are ordinary citizens who made a choice for the government they wanted ruling Fiji back in May this year. An overwhelming 80 percent of these ordinary Fijians chose the SDL party and its parliamentary candidates for national leadership. Because we are a democracy, they had every right to expect that their choice — the Qarase government — would be honoured by all peoples and every key institution that comprises the nation.”
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Down Under
Fiji braces for coup
2006-12-01
FIJI'S capital Suva is bracing for an imminent takeover by the military with no signs that the government will capitulate before the noon deadline to a series of demands by the military.

Fijian Prime Laisenia Qarase said today that he was uncertain of exactly what the military wanted after giving into most of their demands yesterday. This morning military commander Frank Bainimarama briefed the country's president Ratu Josefa Iloilo on his plans. Commodore Bainimarama's meeting with Mr Iloilo lasted about 30 minutes and he left without commenting.

It is understood that if the Government fails to make further concessions Commodore Bainimarama may ask for a state of emergency to be declared, allowing the military to begin securing the city. Commodore Bainimarama's forces were confined to barracks this morning and have been told they will not be able to attend an annual police versus army rugby union match this afternoon which is an important fixture in the Fiji's sporting calendar.
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Down Under
Fiji military warns Australia, Britain & US
2006-11-28
FIJI'S military yesterday warned Australia, Britain and the US not to interfere in its plans to "clean up" the Fijian Government.

The warning came after a visit by top diplomats from the three countries to Suva's main barracks marred attempts by New Zealand to broker 11th-hour talks to head off a possible coup.

The diplomatic manoeuvring yesterday also included a bid by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to threaten the Fijian military with expulsion from peacekeeping operations - a source of national pride and valuable foreign currency for the nation, which has nearly a quarter of a million people living in poverty.

The attempt by the top Australian, US and British diplomats in Suva to hold talks with senior military commanders in the absence of military chief Frank Bainimarama resulted in an angry rebuke from the Fijian military - but may have exposed a potential rift in their leadership.

Royal Fiji Military Force spokesman Major Neumi Leweni released a statement late yesterday saying that the "inappropriate" visit by diplomatic heads of the three missions, including Australian high commissioner Jennifer Rawson, could incite the situation and was viewed as an invasion.

Major Leweni revealed that the military call-up of 3000 reservists at the weekend was not only to aid Commodore Bainimarama's plans for the Government but also to prepare for "any" foreign intervention that might be recommended by a meeting of Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers in Sydney on Friday.

"We have indicated in the past that the RFMF will strongly oppose any foreign intervention and this recall is an indication of how serious the institution is, and will prevent any such attempt," Major Leweni said.

However, the meeting appears to have exposed divisions in the military leadership in Fiji, with the diplomats reporting that the second and third in command of the Fijian forces had disagreed with their commander's views about the military's role in Fiji.

The diplomats sought and received assurances from deputy Fijian military commander Captain Esali Teleni and Land Force commander Colonel Pita Driti that they agreed with the three countries' views about the subordinate role of the military in a democracy.

Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase raised the stakes for Fijian forces yesterday when he revealed that Mr Annan had telephoned him and said he would warn Commodore Bainimarama that if the military took control, they would be forced to withdraw from peacekeeping operations.

In Wellington today, New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters will broker talks between the country's warring military chief, Prime Minister and police commissioner.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who continues to warn of an imminent coup in Fiji, welcomed confirmation of the talks.

Australia had also been an active player in trying to bring both sides together, he said. "I think the New Zealanders have been enormously helpful in using the opportunity of Commodore Bainimarama being in New Zealand for a christening to get in touch with him to try and find a solution to this problem." Mr Downer denied that the Wellington talks would upstage his own plans to host a Pacific foreign ministers meeting this week.

Mr Qarase flew out of Nausori airport, near Suva, yesterday afternoon, accompanied by the nation's Australian police chief, Andrew Hughes, on their way to meet a Royal New Zealand Air Force plane in Nadi for the flight to Wellington.

Commodore Bainimarama told a Fijian radio station afterwards that it would be a short meeting and that he would not give in on any of his demands despite agreeing to stay in New Zealand for the meeting.

Mr Hughes stood firm on his investigation of the commander yesterday. He warned Fijian Director of Public Prosecutions Josaia Naigulevu that it would be a "weak" decision if he gave in to pressure not to recommend sedition charges against Commodore Bainimarama.
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Down Under
Fiji PM to hold crisis talks with army chief
2006-11-28
SUVA - Fiji Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase will leave on Tuesday for crisis talks in New Zealand with his defiant military chief to avert a fourth coup in 20 years in the South Pacific nation. “The discussions are to find a solution for the betterment of the country and to put an end to the impasse,” Qarase told Reuters.

News of the New Zealand-brokered talks, to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, came only hours before Commander Frank Bainimarama was due to return to Fiji from a private visit in New Zealand amid fears that a coup would be launched within days.

Armed soldiers are patrolling the streets of the capital, Suva, while others dressed in camouflage uniforms guard the president’s residence. Hundreds of army reservists have been recalled for unscheduled exercises across the island nation.

Bainimarama has repeatedly threatened to remove Qarase’s elected government unless it drops several pieces of contentious legislation, including a bill that would grant amnesty to those involved in a coup in 2000. Bainimarama issued Qarase a list of “non-negotiable demands” and a two-week deadline before he left for New Zealand last week, at the same time threatening a “clean-up” of Qarase’s government.

“I am ready to listen to the commander on the concerns of the military,” Qarase said.
You'd think the New Zealanders would come up with a pretext to hold Bainimarama for a while and let the Fijians defuse the situation.
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Down Under
Fiji military recalls 1,000 reservists for 'clean-up'
2006-11-26
The Fijian military says hundreds of reservists have been recalled to prepare for a "clean-up" campaign, as talk continues of a planned coup.

Military commander Frank Bainimarama told fijilive.com that if Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase did not bow to the military's demands to drop all investigations into its officers, the army would act. "What's the big deal about this investigation?" Commodore Bainimarama said from New Zealand, where he is on a private visit. "My intention of removing this Government is clear. If they are going to prosecute me if my clean-up campaign fails, then it is their concern."

More than 1,000 territorial force personnel were recalled over the weekend for what Commodore Bainimarama described as preparation for the "clean up" of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's government. He had told the reservists two weeks ago that the Fijian military "is encountering a difficult period and we need to clear the insecurity in the nation".

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said last Thursday "there is clear evidence he is planning a coup in the next couple of weeks".

The hardening of the military's attitude came as the Director of Public Prosecution Josaia Naigulevu confirmed he had passed on to police legal opinion on one of the military files forwarded to his office. "I will not confirm if [we recommended] a charge. It may not help in national security," he told fijilive.com.

The seven files on the military forwarded to Naigulegu included one on whether sedition charges could be laid against Bainimarama.

Commodore Bainimarama has also warned Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes that he should leave the country now before things "blow up".

The military last week issued the Government with a list of nine "non-negotiable" demands that had to be met in two weeks. The demands include dropping police investigations into the sedition charges against Commodore Bainimarama and the sacking of Commissioner Hughes. The military leader said he expected the demands to be met by the time he returned from his two-week trip to New Zealand.

Commodore Bainimarama has accused the Government of corruption and lying, and has repeatedly threatened to force it to resign, prompting a failed bid by the Government to replace him at the end of last month.
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Down Under
Defiant Fijian military 'gives up' on Govt
2006-11-12
Hopes in Fiji that defiant military leader Frank Bainimarama will bury the hatchet with Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase appear dashed, with the military saying it has "given up" on the Government.

A recording of Commodore Bainimarama's closed door address on Friday to Fiji's Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) revealed the military leader denouncing the Prime Minister's leadership and policies. "Mr Prime Minister, we've had enough of your lies," Commodore Bainimarama told Mr Qarase at the meeting, according to a copy of the recording received Saturday by AFP.

The emergency meeting of the Pacific island nation's traditional leaders was called in an attempt to broker a settlement between the two men. Although fears of a fourth military coup in Fiji in two decades have eased, tensions remain high. The military commander has kept up his verbal assaults on the premier, but backed away from threats to force him and the Government from office, accusing them of lies and corruption.
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Down Under
Military chief won't rule out coup
2006-11-09
FIJI'S defiant military chief refused to rule out overthrowing the South Pacific island nation's Government after delivering a series of demands today amid fears of a fourth coup in 20 years. Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who threatened last month to remove Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase if he did not drop two contentious pieces of legislation, said he would prefer to negotiate a settlement to a crisis which has dragged in Australia and New Zealand. Asked in Fijian and English what he would do if the Government failed to meet his demands, Commodore Bainimarama said: "We'll go back at them".

Commodore Bainimarama also said he did not hold much hope for a meeting of the Great Council of Chiefs, the representatives of Fiji's 14 chiefly provinces who are the nation's ultimate powerbrokers, called for tomorrow in an effort to resolve the crisis. He said the council only ever meets "to suit the Government's agenda".

Commodore Bainimarama said the continuing speculation of more political upheaval was bad for the island nation's fragile tourism- and sugar-based economy, which suffered after a May 2000 coup by armed indigenous nationalists.
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