"Suva, Fiji — Fiji's military commander said Tuesday that he had seized control of the country and dismissed the elected prime minister after a weeks-long standoff between the two leaders rooted in tension between the South Pacific nation's indigenous people and its ethnic Indian minority.
Commodore Frank Bainimarama told a news conference that he was using special powers under the constitution to assume the powers of the president and replace Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase.
He said he would soon return the powers to President Ratu Josefa Iloilo, who he expected to appoint a full interim government. Elections to restore democracy would follow, he said."
Send in the Australians!
I gather two things from this story: 1) There's ethnic trouble everywhere, you can't even escape it in an idyllic South Pacific country; and 2) Fijians have very cool names.
1 comment:
The ethnic Indians copped the blame for the first coup about 20 years ago....
Send in the Australians? Well, our PM says no, however, there is one of our warships hovering off the islands, apparently to rescue Australians should the need arise. However, the ship also has the SAS on it (our elite troops) - why are they there I wonder?
Actually, we're a bit stretched at the moment - Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor and the Solomon Islands. Probably one ship and the SAS is about all we can rustle up!
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