No political role for Fiji's Army chief

Fiji's re-elected Government plans to bar the nation's armed forces commander from politics.

Laisenia Qarase, who was sworn in for a second five-year term, says he will seek a "proper interpretation" from the Supreme Court on the constitutional role of the military - a move that could put him on a collision course with armed forces chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

The Army is "confined to the operation of the military" and has "no role in the politics of the country," he told Fiji's Sunday Times.