Fiji's military commander tightened his grip on power when he was sworn in as interim prime minister on Friday, exactly a month after his bloodless coup overthrew the South Pacific nation's elected government.
SUVA: Fiji's military commander tightened his grip on power when he was sworn in as interim prime minister on Friday, exactly a month after his bloodless coup overthrew the South Pacific nation's elected government.
Commander Frank Bainimarama said he would remain head of the military as well as lead the interim government, but the man he ousted, former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, warned that Fiji was heading towards military dictatorship.
Bainimarama staged Fiji's fourth coup in 20 years on December 5.
He was sworn in interim premier on Friday by President Ratu Josefa Iloilo, whom he reinstated a day earlier after assuming his largely ceremonial powers during the coup.
“In all things, I will be a true and faithful prime minister,” Bainimarama said as he took the oath of office.
“Let us put the interest of the nation at heart,” he said.
Bainimarama said he would lead Fiji to new elections “after an advanced electoral office and systems are in place and the political and economic conditions are conducive to the holding of such elections”.
He gave no indication when elections will be held.
The military said the state of emergency it declared during the coup would remain in place and that Qarase should stay on his home island in Fiji's remote east, where he was sent after being ousted from office.
Qarase, re-elected for a second five-year term last May, told the news web site Fiji Village (
www.fijivillage.com) that he would return to the capital Suva next week.
Bainimarama toppled Qarase's government in Fiji's fourth coup since 1987, accusing it of corruption, racism and of being too soft on those responsible for the previous coup in 2000.
Iloilo, an ageing and ailing figurehead who is rarely seen in public, said in a national address on Thursday that he endorsed the military's action and would grant immunity from civil and criminal prosecution for those involved.
Bainimarama had installed Jona Baravilala Senilagakali, a former army doctor and Methodist lay preacher, as caretaker prime minister during the coup.
Bainimarama has since purged the police, judiciary and public service of senior officials and cracked down against those who have spoken out against his coup.
The overthrow has brought international condemnation, with Australia, New Zealand, Britain and the United States imposing economic and defence sanctions.
A former British colony, Fiji had its Commonwealth membership suspended in protest at the coup, just as it had after similar upheavals in 1987 and 2000.
Many warned that the coup would significantly damage Fiji's fragile economy, which is based on tourism and an inefficient and uncompetitive sugar industry. Tourism bookings fell dramatically around the time of the coup.
The prime minister and a top junta member later met to consider tightening security in Bangkok, after the military denied rumors of a new coup during the night.
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and the junta's secretary general, Winai Phattiyakul, met at Government House amid soaring political tensions that were ignited by a series of deadly bombings in Bangkok on New Year's Eve.
Defense Minister Boonrawd Somtas told reporters Thursday that the bombers were most likely "men in uniform".Hours later, rumors began to swirl around Bangkok that a new coup was underway, forcing the junta leader to speak late Thursday and early Friday on national television to ease public fears.
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