Fiji PM welcomes chiefs' support for coup bill

Laisenia Qarase

Fiji's indigenous leaders have ignored warnings from the military and endorsed proposed legislation that will forgive those who staged a violent race-triggered coup in 2000.

Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase has hailed the support of the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) as a crucial step in its becoming law.

The GCC, which appoints the South Pacific nation's head of state, endorsed the reconciliation bill against the advice of Fiji's armed forces as well as legal and human rights groups.

"The decision was made in the best interest of the country and a significant milestone in the process of consultation," Qarase told news website Fijilive.

The bill calls for individual amnesties to be granted to participants in the 2000 coup who overthrew a democratically-elected, ethnic, Indian-led government at gunpoint.

The prime minister has also won support for his legislation from all 14 indigenous provincial councils and Fiji's influential Methodist Church.

Qarase said he now had a mandate to pass the bill later this year in the parliament, where his government holds a majority, but would consider amendments.

Fiji's political opposition strongly opposes the legislation, saying it could free terrorists like coup leader George Speight and subvert the rule of law.

In backing the bill, the GCC urged the government to consider concerns raised by the military and other groups.

Military commander Frank Bainimarama, who has threatened to remove the government if it passes the bill, had urged the predominantly Christian chiefs to reject it in a presentation laced with Biblical quotes.

Bainimarama said he felt betrayed by the chiefs because some had assured him he had their support, the Fiji Sun reported.

Opposition leader Mahendra Chaudhry, who as Fiji's first ethnic Indian prime minister was overthrown in the coup, was not allowed to address the GCC.

"The chiefs have failed to address the issue properly and this doesn't augur well for Fiji's future," Chaudhry told the Fiji Times.

"There's still the parliamentary and legal process and we'll fight this bill all the way," he said.

- AAP