Fiji’s military chief was sworn in on Friday as the South Pacific nation’s interim Prime Minister, cementing the power he seized by force one month ago in an armed coup.
Commodore Frank Bainimarama promised to be ”a true and faithful prime minister”, during a swearing-in ceremony at Government House in Fiji’s capital, Suva, which was broadcast live on national radio.
He later said he plans to keep his job as head of the military, but will collect only one salary.
Bainimarama was officially appointed and confirmed by former president Ratu Josefa Iloilo, whom Bainimarama ousted last month and restored to the largely ceremonial post on Thursday.
The military chief’s reinstatement of Iloilo came after a month-long row with Fiji’s influential tribal chiefs, who appoint the president and had refused to recognise the army chief’s self-proclaimed presidential powers. The chiefs have not yet commented on Iloilo’s endorsement of Bainimarama as interim prime minister.
The army deposed Iloilo and his vice-president during a bloodless coup on December 5 in which he dissolved the Cabinet, suspended Parliament and banished the elected prime minister, Laisenia Qarase, to his home island about 300km north of Suva.
Addressing the nation, Bainimarama said one of his top priorities as interim leader will be to secure immunity for himself and his officers for staging the coup, and urged his opponents not to defy his authority.
”I implore all those who may think about challenging, through whatever means or methods, the choice and wisdom of His Excellency [Iloilo] to think again and put the interest of the nation … above their personal interests,” said Bainimarama.
”Let’s work together in peace and harmony to take our country through to truly democratic and Constitution-based elections,” he added.
Bainimarama’s appointment tightens his control over this troubled South Pacific nation, which has experienced four coups in the past two decades. Under Fijian law, the prime minister administers the day-to-day affairs of the nation, while the president’s powers are mainly ceremonial.
The new prime minister is expected to pick his interim Cabinet from a shortlist of 31 candidates selected by his military advisers before the end of January, but he has not set a timeline for new elections.
The latest developments come after a month-long standoff between Bainimarama and the Great Council of Chiefs, which had rejected Bainimarama’s decision to oust Iloilo.
But in a rare address to the nation on Thursday, the aged and ailing Iloilo said he would have done ”exactly what the army commander did” at the time of the coup, and that it was valid under the law.
Council Chief Ratu Ovini reportedly declined to comment on Iloilo’s endorsement of Bainimarama, saying the council needs time to assess the legality of the coup, according to online news site Fiji Live. — Sapa-AP