Fiji's coup leader yesterday returned executive authority to the nation's former president but appeared set to retain effective power by moving to become interim prime minister.
Military commander Voreqe Bainimarama returned the presidency to Ratu Josefa Iloilo amid reports Bainimarama would be sworn in as interim prime minister today.
Military spokesman Major Neumi Leweni initially declined to comment on the reports. But after being told they came from the president's office he said: "If that's what the president's office says, it must be true."
Speaking after Bainimarama's announcement, restored President Ratu Josefa Iloilo swiftly endorsed last month's coup. He also said an incoming government would offer legal immunity to the military.
Iloilo said he would soon name an interim government to take Fiji through to general elections. But these would only be held when "political and economic conditions are conducive."
Bainimarama confirmed at a press conference that Iloilo would be restored to power and that caretaker prime minister Jona Senilagakali had resigned earlier yesterday to clear the way for an interim government to be named.
"I now hand over executive authority to the president. God Bless Fiji," he said.
Bainimarama appealed to Fijians and the international community -- which condemned the coup and imposed sanctions -- to support the South Pacific nation following the transfer of authority.
Iloilo, speaking for the first time since losing power in the bloodless Dec. 5 coup, said he backed the putsch that ousted prime minister Laisenia Qarase's government.
"Therefore I fully endorse the actions of the commander in acting in the interests of the nation and most importantly in upholding the constitution," Iloilo said in an address to the nation.
A long-time ally of Bainimarama, he said an interim government would "facilitate all legal protections" for the military chief and the rest of the armed forces over the putsch.
The 86-year-old president also said he had been prevented from exercising his authority in the runup to Qarase's overthrow, although he refused to elaborate.
Iloilo backed Bainimarama in his long-running dispute with the former government, which the military chief said was corrupt, adopted racist policies against the country's ethnic Indian minority and was soft on plotters of a coup in 2000.
The president said the time had come to "enforce a genuine democracy" in a "Fiji-based solution."
"I will therefore, shortly after consultation with capable people, announce an interim government to take us smoothly to the next elections," he said.
The president's role is primarily symbolic in the country of 900,000 with the real power residing with the prime minister and Cabinet.
Last month, the military advertised in Fiji's newspapers for applicants interested in joining an interim Cabinet, and it has been sifting through the applications.
With much pomp and circumstance, Cairo is today to inaugurate the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), widely presented as the crowning jewel on authorities’ efforts to overhaul the country’s vital tourism industry. With a panoramic view of the Giza pyramids plateau, the museum houses thousands of artifacts spanning more than 5,000 years of Egyptian antiquity at a whopping cost of more than US$1 billion. More than two decades in the making, the ultra-modern museum anticipates 5 million visitors annually, with never-before-seen relics on display. In the run-up to the grand opening, Egyptian media and official statements have hailed the “historic moment,” describing the
‘CHILD PORNOGRAPHY’: The doll on Shein’s Web site measure about 80cm in height, and it was holding a teddy bear in a photo published by a daily newspaper France’s anti-fraud unit on Saturday said it had reported Asian e-commerce giant Shein (希音) for selling what it described as “sex dolls with a childlike appearance.” The French Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) said in a statement that the “description and categorization” of the items on Shein’s Web site “make it difficult to doubt the child pornography nature of the content.” Shortly after the statement, Shein announced that the dolls in question had been withdrawn from its platform and that it had launched an internal inquiry. On its Web site, Le Parisien daily published a
China’s Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft has delayed its return mission to Earth after the vessel was possibly hit by tiny bits of space debris, the country’s human spaceflight agency said yesterday, an unusual situation that could disrupt the operation of the country’s space station Tiangong. An impact analysis and risk assessment are underway, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said in a statement, without providing a new schedule for the return mission, which was originally set to land in northern China yesterday. The delay highlights the danger to space travel posed by increasing amounts of debris, such as discarded launch vehicles or vessel
RUBBER STAMP? The latest legislative session was the most productive in the number of bills passed, but critics attributed it to a lack of dissenting voices On their last day at work, Hong Kong’s lawmakers — the first batch chosen under Beijing’s mantra of “patriots administering Hong Kong” — posed for group pictures, celebrating a job well done after four years of opposition-free politics. However, despite their smiles, about one-third of the Legislative Council will not seek another term in next month’s election, with the self-described non-establishment figure Tik Chi-yuen (狄志遠) being among those bowing out. “It used to be that [the legislature] had the benefit of free expression... Now it is more uniform. There are multiple voices, but they are not diverse enough,” Tik said, comparing it
RSS