Crisis Talks Aim To Avert New Fijian Coup
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday January 11, 2006
THE Vice-President of Fiji, Joni Madraiwiwi, will hold crisis talks with the commander of the country's military forces, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, to stave off a possible military takeover of the Government.
Commodore Bainimarama issued a statement on Sunday night saying the military was prepared to take power in what would be Fiji's fourth coup in 19 years. The Fijian media have carried alarming reports that high-tech weapons intended for the military were diverted to the police.The police commissioner, Andrew Hughes, intervened yesterday to say this was not correct. Police had borrowed 125 self-loading rifles from the military but they had been returned last June. The police had just acquired 25 low-velocity, short-range firearms that were in common police use and would only be used by the newly formed Tactical Response Group, he said.But Ema Druavesi, secretary of the Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei Party, which once held power under the 1987 coup leader, Sitiveni Rabuka, said the party was apprehensive about the Government's intentions."Is the Government relying on the police to be used in a confrontation between the two security forces?" she asked. "Blood of Fijians is going to flow if there is a confrontation."The Government is poised to have passed a reconciliation, truth and tolerance bill next month.The bill, which brought a threat from Commodore Bainimarama in 2004 to take over government if it was not implemented, has been watered down but it has still provoked him into another threat.Fiji takes such threats seriously. Raman Pratap Singh, the secretary of the National Federation Party, strongly supported by the Fijian Indian community, said his party opposed such action.Commodore Bainimarama, who declared martial law after George Speight's coup in May 2000 and installed what became the elected government of Laisenia Qarase, has become a thorn in the side for that government, itself under pressure from its extreme right to wind up prosecutions of coup plotters and participants and "move on".Commodore Bainimarama, who fled for his life down a hillside in November 2000 when military mutineers tried to kill him, has refused to step down as commander.He has repeatedly called for more haste in the justice process and has complained of stalling and lenient treatment of coup participants who have been convicted.He has criticised the Ministry for Home Affairs, in particular the secretary, Jeremaia Waqanisau, whom he has accused of being a "political public servant" biased in favour of Speight and his supporters.
© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald