Fijian president restored to power
The maneuver still keeps power mainly in the hands of the military commander
Associated Press
SUVA, Fiji » Military strongman Frank Bainimarama restored Fiji's President Ratu Josefa Iloilo to power today, clearing the way for an interim government while largely retaining the military's control over the South Pacific nation.
Bainimarama also announced the resignation of Fiji's caretaker prime minister, Dr. Jona Senilagakali, whom he appointed last month after dissolving the Cabinet, suspending Parliament and banishing elected Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to his home island 190 miles north of the capital, Suva.
Today's developments open the path for Iloilo to appoint an interim government that will steer the country to the next general election, but they do not significantly alter the military's hold on power since Bainimarama seized power in the Dec. 5 coup.
"I now hand over executive authority to the president," Bainimarama told a national address. "We trust his wisdom and believe that he will exercise his executive power with resolve."
Under Fiji's constitution, the president has largely ceremonial powers -- including signing bills and appointing officials on the advice of the prime minister.
Bainimarama's appointments still control all key decision-making posts in Fiji, and his military council has already formed a list of 31 people as potential members of the interim government.
The military ruler's decision to reinstate Iloilo comes after a month-long tussle with the country's influential tribal council of elders, which appoints the president.
The Great Council of Chiefs, which has strong influence among Fiji's politically dominant indigenous majority, refused to recognize Bainimarama's assertion of presidential power following the coup, steadfastly maintaining that Iloilo and Qarase remained in power.
But in his first public address since the coup, Iloilo said today that he would have done "exactly what the army commander did" at the time of the coup and that it was valid under the law.
But he also said Fiji should return to democracy as soon as possible and that he planned to hold consultations before appointing the interim government.