Fiji military chief threatens Government with martial law

SUVA - Fiji's military commander said yesterday he would declare martial law in the South Pacific nation, just as he did during a 2000 coup, if the government passed a law later this year granting amnesty to those involved in the coup.

"The RFMF (Republic of Fiji Military Forces) will have no qualms about removing a government that will bring back chaos," commander Frank Bainimarama said in an eight-page statement reported on independent website fijilive.com.

"I will take the people back to the evening of May 28 (2000)," Bainimarama said in reference to the night he declared martial law during the 2000 coup which toppled the government of Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry.

However, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, who was installed by Bainimarama as interim leader in 2000 before he won free elections in 2002, vowed to press with the bill which his government says will end lingering divisions from the 2000 coup.

Fiji has seen three racially inspired coups since 1987 and racial tensions are never far from the surface, where indigenous Fijians resent the economic power of ethnic Indians, whose ancestors were brought out to work on British sugar cane farms.

Indigenous Fijians account for more than half of Fiji's 800,000 population.

Bainimarama told Reuters he believed a Reconciliation, Tolerance and Unity Bill later this year would not heal divisions from the 2000 coup by failed businessman George Speight, but leave Fiji vulnerable to further unrest.

"The RFMF commander cannot allow the passage of this bill because it could see lawlessness return to Fiji," he said.

"I am issuing a stern warning as commander that the military will dish out the same treatment to people breaking the law as we did to George Speight and his colleagues."

Speight claimed the 2002 coup was launched to reclaim power for indigenous Fijians from the government of Chaudhry, Fiji's first ethnic Indian leader.

However, Qarase rejected the military chief's warning on Tuesday, and said the amnesty bill would be passed.

Qarase said the bill, which will be debated during the August-September sitting of parliament, was offering "restorative justice" as in South Africa, East Timor and Chile.

"The bill will go on despite whatever opposition comes our way," Qarase told Reuters. "The bill is offering a political solution, that is legally binding, to end the investigations into the 2000 crisis."

Opposition to the bill's amnesty clause has also come from Fiji's police force, which has warned it would condone the 2000 coup and could lead to further political instability.

Radio talk shows and newspaper letters have also reflected opposition to the bill, with many ordinary Fijians calling for those responsible for the 2000 coup to be held accountable.

Bainimarama declared martial law in 2000 after Speight led nationalist gunmen into the nation's parliament on May 19 and took Chaudhry hostage with most of his multi-racial government.

Chaudhry was held for 56 days before he was released. Speight is serving a life sentence on a prison island off Suva.

- REUTERS