Transitional civil administration in Fiji?

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, JUNE 13. The Head of Fiji's `Interim Military Government,' Commodore J. V. Frank Bainimarama, today announced that a transitional civil administration might be constituted later this week, according to foreign diplomats and observers in capital Suva.

Cmdr. Bainimarama is said to have made this offer during a conversation with local mediapersons in Suva today. The move, aimed at facilitating the formulation of a new Constitution with a decisive weightage for the narrow majority of natives, came as a sequel to a fresh confrontation between the military Government and the `civil coup' leader, Mr. George Speight. The proposed interim civil administration might be in place until the next general elections but Cmdr. Bainimarama kept the key players on the local political stage guessing about the nature and scope of his ideas. (According to a PTI report, the military ruler said he would not include Mr. Speight in the civilian Government which he would constitute within days).

This latest political move was punctuated by Mr. Speight's angry outburst at Cmdr. Bainimarama even as those being held captive by him continued to languish in the parliament complex. The political hostages include the now-deposed Prime Minister of minority ethnic Indian stock, Mr. Mahendra Pal Chaudhry and some of his key colleagues. Pooh-poohing the Military Government's version about a firing incident in Suva yesterday, Mr. Speight today demanded that Cmdr. Bainimarama tender a written apology. Arguing that the event might be a signal that the military leader had ``no control'' over the armed forces, Mr. Speight refused to believe that he and his supporters had been only `accidentally' and `mistakenly' fired at by a few soldiers. The incident occurred when some soldiers, manning a checkpoint near Mr. Speight's ``citadel'' - the parliament complex occupied by him and his supporters - opened fire at a convoy of two cars, one of them carrying him. The soldiers are said to have reacted to the manner in which the checkpoint was disregarded by Mr. Speight's men. And the shots were fired at the convoy as a whole, but they hit the rear car in which he was travelling.

The Government's main spokesman, Col. Filipo Tarakinikini, acknowledged that the firepower used was far in excess of that permissible under the rules of ``engagement'' drawn up by the present regime. And, in an attempt to shore up its image, ahead of a possible visit to Fiji of a Commonwealth delegation later this week, the country's leadership profusely apologised for the incident, which caused no injuries or fatalities.

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Section  : International
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