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Fiji PM will not resign amid coup fears
02 November 2006

SUVA: Fiji Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase has refused to resign in the face of threats from the country's military chief, warning a coup would have dire consequences for the South Pacific nation's fragile economy.
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"There is absolutely no question of me resigning. . . or of my government stepping down," Qarase said in an address to the nation on local radio.

"We have the constitutional authority and the support of the people to rule now and for the next five years."

Australia has placed two warships on standby to evacuate its citizens. "We are very concerned about the possibility of a coup in Fiji," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Australian Broadcasting/ Corp. radio.

The United States said it could suspend aid if troops do not respect constitutional processes and the rule of law.

Military chief Frank Bainimarama has threatened to force Qarase to resign unless he drops two contentious bills, including one offering amnesty to some of those involved in a coup in 2000.

Bainimarama, currently visiting troops in the Middle East, said he would remove Qarase from office once he returned to Fiji, arguing the government was corrupt.

"I'll be back to see that Qarase and his cronies step down," he told the Fiji Sun newspaper on Wednesday. Bainimarama is expected back in Fiji later this week.

AMMUNITION SEIZED

Qarase said police were investigating Bainimarama's threats. "The rule of law must prevail. No one is above the law, no one has the right to interfer with the legal process," he said.

Fijian troops drove through the streets of Suva on Wednesday and took control of tonnes of ammunition from the waterfront, amid fears of a coup. The military plan a march by 3,000 reservists through the streets of Suva on Thursday.

Fiji has suffered three coups and a failed mutiny since 1987.

The coups have been racially fuelled, with indigenous Fijians fearful of losing political control of their island nation to ethnic Indian Fijians, who dominate the economy.

Qarase said that if the military staged another coup, Fiji would face a foreign currency crisis and see the loss of thousands of jobs in the mainstay tourism industry.

Suva residents were nervous that Fiji was about to be rocked by further instability. People stayed away from the city's open air market and worried parents accompanied children to school for exams.

"These people are playing around with the future of our kids, who will go into their exams under stress – its just not good enough," Saten Prasad, a parent, said.

Fijian political leaders failed to remove Bainimarama from his position on Tuesday, with the military rallying around him.

"Bainimarama is still commander and now the government is in a dilemma and will have to eat their words," Land Force Commander Colonel Pita Driti told Fiji media on Wednesday.

Bainimarama has accused the Qarase government of being too soft on those involved in the 2000 coup. He said that while the leader of the 2000 coup, failed businessman George Speight, was in prison, those that backed him were now in parliament.

He said he regretted appointing Qarase as interim prime minister following the 2000 coup. Qarase has since won two free elections.

"He betrayed our trust when he went back to team up with the very people who caused the political instability of 2000," Bainimarama told the Fiji Sun.

Qarase said he was still prepared to hold talks with Bainimarama and would seek advise from Fiji's Great Council of Chiefs, who support his two contentious bills.

"I call on the churches and people to pray for our country," said Qarase at the end of his address to the nation.

STAYING PUT: Fiji PM Laisenia Qarase has refused to resign in the face of threats from the country's military chief.