KEY POINTS:
SUVA - The sacking by Fiji's military commander of those who speak out against his coup attempt appeared to be backfiring yesterday as he faced a rising tide of opposition.
Churches joined the condemnation, describing the actions of Commodore Frank Bainimarama as "purely the manifestation of darkness and evil".
Commodore Bainimarama has proclaimed himself President and appointed a military doctor prime minister.
He has used soldiers to remove the elected Government from their offices, the Senate from Parliament and replaced civil service heads who have denounced his actions.
Civil Service chief executives rallied behind Fiji's Public Service Commission chairman, Stuart Huggett, after armed soldiers tried to arrest him yesterday.
Mr Huggett, who refuses to take instructions from the military commander, was escorted with Solicitor-General Nainendra Nand to a military base but, in a show of solidarity, they were followed by chief executives from a range of Government departments.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Josaia Naguilevu, said all Government chief executives were firmly behind their chairman.
The Great Council of Chiefs has also spoken out against the commander and cancelled a meeting at which Commodore Bainimarama had hoped it would endorse his takeover and lend legitimacy by reappointing Ratu Josefa Iloilo as President.
Military spokesman Neumi Lewini said the Great Council of Chiefs and other bodies should attend to their own business and leave other matters to Commodore Bainimarama.
Mr Huggett, Mr Nand, Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes and his deputy Moses Driver, the chief executive of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's office, the supervisor of elections and Mary Chapman, the secretary-general of Parliament, were sacked yesterday by the commodore in his self-proclaimed role as President.
Commodore Bainimarama suggested at a press conference last night that the election in May was compromised.
"What we don't want is a repeat of the situation and circumstances in which the last general election was carried out."
Government posts to be advertised in local newspapers
Positions in the interim government would be advertised in local newspapers today as part of the rebuilding process.
Lawyers say the military takeover is illegal and those taking part in the interim government were likely to be signing up for jail sentences.
Commodore Bainimarama said a team would be appointed to look into the "corrupt practices of the previous government".
Condemnation by the international community was expected, he said, but he again appealed for understanding of the situation in Fiji.
"I do not deny that democracy is good for the people. But democracy must not be used to hide corruption or used as a means to divide the people of this country."
Thirty ministers of the Christian Mission Fellowship met in Suva yesterday to discuss the crisis.
"We are appealing to the commander to take the courage as a real man and admit that what he has done is ungodly, unconstitutional and unlawful, and to honour the people's choice by returning the running of our nation to the democratically elected government and for him to return the soldiers back to the barracks," said fellowship president the Rev Suliasi Kurulo.
The Methodist Church, of which Mr Qarase is a member, has also condemned the military.
In an interview with Radio Australia, Police Commissioner Hughes said he did not believe the people of Fiji would accept Commodore Bainimarama's military regime.
"He doesn't have the support of the Government, of the President, of the police, of the chiefs, of the people of Fiji and I can foresee a popular uprising," Mr Hughes, an Australian, said from Cairns, where he retreated after receiving threats.
Mahendra Chaudhry, whose government was overthrown in the George Speight coup of 2000, called for democratic rule to be restored as soon as possible but appeared to agree with Commodore Bainimarama that corruption in Government ranks was a serious problem.
"The endemic corruption and scams in government, fuelled by a powerful alliance between corrupt politicians, civil servants and unscrupulous businesspersons, further aggravated the already strained relations between the military and the Government," Mr Chaudhry said.
Military doctor Jona Baravilala Senilagakali, a Methodist lay preacher and political novice, was sworn in as caretaker prime minister at military headquarters on Wednesday night.
"There's no doubt about it. It is an illegal takeover," he told ABC radio.
"It's an illegal takeover to clean up the mess of a much bigger illegal activity of the previous government.
"So what choice do you have? To me, it's better that you do this illegal activity to clean up a much bigger, illegal mess so that we can bring peace ... to the people of Fiji."
Dr Senilagakali said his Army background led him to accept his post.
"I've been given a task by the commander and I've been in the Army since August 16, 1990. I have a regimental number," he said.
"Under the act, I came in and took an oath. Whatever the commander tells me to do, I have no choice but to do it."
He said he was not consulted.
"He [Commodore Bainimarama] just went, when he made the press conference the other day, and he just made the announcement. I had no choice.
"After that when we went to the officers' mess, I told him, 'Why didn't you let me know?'
"[He] said, 'No, if I'd let you know you would have refused, I know. So the only thing is to command you'."
Dr Senilagakali said he believed he was called to the job by God.
"I have this conviction that I have been called by divine authority to do something for the people of Fiji. I am a Christian and I go by Christian teaching.
"I hate people who talk against people who are the Hindus and the Muslims in this country. I hate to hear that."
National accuses TVNZ of helping fear campaign
The involvement of TVNZ in broadcasting a key address by Commodore Frank Bainimarama has been questioned by National - which claims the Crown-owned company aided Fiji's military commander in spreading his "campaign of fear".
National MP Gerry Brownlee claims TVNZ turned up to do the broadcast from Suva's Army barracks on Tuesday at the commodore's request.
New Zealand's public broadcaster has become effectively "a tool of the coup leader", he says.
TVNZ says there is nothing unusual in its filming a media conference.
- NZPA
