Coup in Fiji

[chera]

Any Fijian JPH!P'sters among us?  There has been a coup in Fiji:

After spending all day a virtual prisoner in his own home, surrounded by renegade soldiers, the prime minister of Fiji was summarily dismissed yesterday by the country's maverick military commander.  Months of tension between the military and the democratically elected government of Laisenia Qarase finally reached a climax, with Commodore Frank Bainimarama announcing that he had seized control in the South Pacific nation's fourth military coup since 1987.  "As of six o'clock this evening, the military has taken over the government, has executive authority and the running of this country," he said in a televised address from a barracks in the capital, Suva.  Britain had suspended military aid to Fiji in response to the coup, a Downing Street spokesman said. Fiji gained independence in 1970 after 96 years of British rule.

Australia and New Zealand said they would impose sanctions on Fiji's military and the interim government. John Howard, the Australian prime minister, described the coup as "a tragic setback for democracy in Fiji".  New Zealand will seek Fiji's expulsion from the Commonwealth and Helen Clark, the prime minister, described the takeover as an outrage.  "[Bainimarama] called on people not to break the law — the military commander has just ripped up Fiji's constitution and chucked it out the window…history will be his judge," she said.

Seems typical of coups: junta claims corruption by the previous government to mask legit issues that the military wasn't willing to resolve via constitutional means.

[fudog]

first thailand now fiji... now comes censorship

take care fijans