smh.com.au
FIJI'S Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase, surrounded by bodyguards at his home in Suva last night, declared he would not resign and that he intended to hold a special cabinet meeting today. Mr Qarase said the military's seizure of weapons yesterday from a special division of the police force was illegal and that it was "a sad day for democracy and the rule of law". He confirmed the military had tried to get into his home to seize weapons they thought were there but were turned away by his bodyguards. He also said he had been summoned to the President's home and that military officers had told him he would have to get out of his car at the gate and walk to the residence, which he refused to do, and he was driven away.
Mr Qarase said he was not afraid of anybody. He agreed he was now in an isolated position and it was a matter of waiting to see "how this develops". "If they have the firepower they can do whatever they like," he said. "We will just wait." Mr Qarase said he would continue to fight for democracy in Fiji. Asked whether he expected foreign intervention, he replied that "our neighbours" had stated publicly that they would not intervene in the affairs of his country.
Fiji was virtually in the hands of the military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, with all police weapons seized and roadblocks around Suva, the capital. The military not only disarmed the Police Tactical Response Division, the country's only armed police unit, but also all bodyguards of ministers, including Mr Qarase's bodyguard. Commodore Bainimarama held a news conference last night in which he said the weapons had been seized to prevent any "dissident" elements from threatening the military or the people. He called on anyone who was contemplating a "criminal act" against the military or the people not to do so. He said it was his intention that the police and military work together and that the weapons had been taken away to prevent any conflict.
As the commodore spoke, truckloads of his soldiers were being dispatched all over Suva, and last night all exits and entry points in the capital were controlled by the military. Commodore Bainimarama declined to say at the news conference whether he was the head of government.
However, government sources in New Zealand and Australia suggest there is shaky support for the military commander within the military, so it seems likely that there will be further changes. New Zealand and Australia are also warning of sanctions should the military seize power.
FT.com
Australian warships are on standby to help with a possible evacuation of Australians left stranded by a military coup. Australia and New Zealand have insisted that they were not planning a military intervention, but warned that Fiji would face sanctions if the military seized power. The crisis in Fiji is particularly bad news for Canberra, which had hoped that its more interventionist policy across the Pacific would help promote stability and democracy in the region.
The standoff in Fiji started a month ago with a dispute over an amnesty proposed by the government for people involved in the last coup in Fiji, in 2000. Mr Bainimarama claimed some of the plotters of that coup have in fact been allowed back in government and that the lenient amnesty would merely reinforce the lawlessness and corruption condoned by Mr Qarase.
On Monday, Alexander Downer, the Australian foreign minister, said Fiji was in the midst of a “tortuously complicated situation.†He suggested that the army’s failure to act decisively reflected internal tensions and “a fair bit of resistance’†to Mr Bainimarama’s efforts to oust the government by military means.
No comments:
Post a Comment