Monday, Dec. 04, 2006
Longstanding tensions between the Fijian government and military approached breaking point Dec. 3, as Commander Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama sent armed troops to surround the police barracks in Suva. For several days beforehand, his soldiers had been patrolling the streets of the capital, Suva, as the Commander repeated his "non-negotiable" demands that Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase resign and that his government abandon moves to exonerate perpetrators of the attempted coup in 2000.
Bainimarama had grown increasingly bellicose in recent weeks. As troops fired mortars into Suva's harbor during a 3 a.m. training exercise Nov. 30, he told a press conference that he was "boss" of Fiji. A meeting between him and Qarase in Wellington last week—hastily arranged by the New Zealand government—failed to soften Bainimarama's stance. Qarase emerged from the talks saying progress had been made; Bainimarama immediately denied it. On Sunday, speaking in Fijian on Fiji One television, he said there were "5,001 ways we can make him resign," and, referring to the prison island where several coup perpetrators are serving long sentences, said, "Nukulau is a beautiful place where we can go and think about how we can better serve our country."
He also lashed out at the media for its coverage of the drawn-out crisis, saying journalists were inflaming the situation and singling out the Fiji Daily Post for criticism. The paper's staff evacuated their offices and inquired to the Australian High Commission about emergency visas.
The Commander's stance has won him malevolent enemies. An officer says he has received numerous death threats, and there is fear in the military's higher ranks that Bainimarama has been targeted for assassination—a fate he narrowly escaped in 2000, during a failed mutiny in the wake of the coup. The Commander is constantly shadowed by eight bodyguards in bulletproof vests. There are rumors that some senior officers now want the Commander removed. "There is a split in the ranks as well," one officer told Time. Despite the threats, Bainimarama gave no sign of backing away from his vow to remove the government unless it agrees to all of his demands.
The Commander's stance has won support from some Fijian chiefs. They include former military commanders Ratu Epeli Ganilau, and Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, who was recently appointed High Commissioner to the U.K. His wife, Senator Adi Koila Mara Nailatikau, is the daughter of the late President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, who was forced to step down in 2000; she herself was taken hostage by the rebels. All three deny rumors that they have been asked to serve in a potential alternative government. However, Ganilau told Time he has been talking to the military "when asked, on ceremonial matters." The split between backers of the abortive 2000 coup and those who would stage another coup rather than see its perpetrators freed goes right through the heart of indigenous Fiji. —By Rory Callinan/Suva
- Rory Callinan
- Fiji's Fuse Burns Faster
