Bainimarama appointed Fiji's interim PM

Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has been re-appointed Fiji's caretaker prime minister.

He was sworn in by Head of State Ratu Josefa Iloilo at Government House at about 10.15am today, the Fiji Times website reported.

His interim Cabinet will be sworn in at 3pm, the website said.

Cdre Bainimarama did not answer questions but was expected to issue a statement later.

Yesterday Cdre Bainimaranimarama told ABC News that he would not mind returning to the post he had held in the previous interim government which took power after a coup in 2006.

Yesterday Ratu Iloilo revoked Fiji's constitution, named himself to replace temporarily the post-coup interim government and called for fresh elections by 2014.

He also sacked the judiciary.

His moves came after the interim government headed by Cdre Bainimarama was declared illegal by Fiji's Court of Appeal on Thursday.

Fiji has suffered four coups and a bloody military mutiny since 1987, mainly as a result of tensions between the majority indigenous Fijian population and the economically powerful ethnic Indian minority.

Ratu Iloilo's earlier moves drew condemnation from New Zealand, Australia and the United States.

NZ Foreign Minister Murray McCully called the move to disband the appeal court "a serious step backwards".

"The events of the past few days will merely compound the problems faced by ordinary Fijians," he said in a statement.

The United States said it was "deeply disappointed" by the constitution's revocation and worried about the future of democracy in the country, the State Department said.

Australia also condemned Iloilo's moves as "backwards" and backed the appeal court's recommendation for prompt elections.

"This is the right course for Fiji and the only way forward for the people of Fiji," Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in a statement on Friday.

Mr McCully said he had little doubt the president's decision was prompted by Cdre Bainimarama.

Cdre Bainimarama has denied he influenced Ratu Iloilo's decision.

"I explained to him the result of the court case, the appeal, and I guess he came up with that on his own," Bainimarama told Radio Australia.

Fiji was suspended from the Commonwealth, a grouping of 53 mainly former British colonies, after the December 2006 coup. The United States and European Union imposed sanctions until the tourism- and sugar-reliant island nation held elections.

Cdre Bainimarama says Fiji must first change its racially based electoral system, which he blames for Fiji's instability.

- NZPA