Fiji's new government to be sworn in amid rebel anger

President Ratu Josefa Iloilo takes the oath during the swearing-in ceremony at Borron House in Suva on Tuesday

July 19, 2000
Web posted at: 7:05 a.m. HKT (2305 GMT)

SUVA, Fiji (Reuters) -- Fiji's new government is expected to be sworn in Wednesday amid threats by nationalist rebels of further civil unrest over the line-up chosen by new president Ratu Josefa Iloilo.

The rebels, who held Fiji's first ethnic Indian premier Mahendra Chaudhry at gunpoint for two months, say they were double-crossed over the composition of the new Cabinet.

The rebel-backed president defied coup leader George Speight by including only five rebel nominees in the new government and appointing the military-backed Laiseni Qarase as prime minister.

Speight said more of his supporters should have been included in the 32-member Cabinet.

"We consider it to be highly inappropriate and not in keeping with the vanua (people)," he declared.

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"They are treading on some dangerous ground. It will result in a backlash. ... I think some of the people are trying to do me in and they are going to meet with some very strong resistance," Speight said.

The Cabinet line-up prompted Australia, New Zealand and Britain to recall their ambassadors in protest and urge Fiji to return to constitutional rule. New Zealand said it "deplored the presence" of Speight sympathizers in the ministerial line-up.

Australia and New Zealand, Fiji's major trading partners, also imposed limited sanctions on the island nation.

Speight and his gunmen released Chaudhry and the last of the hostages last Thursday after winning concessions to strip political power from ethnic Indians who make up 44 percent of Fiji's population and dominate its economy.

Two cars were burnt overnight outside parliament which has been occupied by the rebels and their supporters since they launched the coup in the name of indigenous Fijian rights on May 19. Fiji's military said there was no other trouble.

"Just the threats and we expected that," military spokesman Major Howard Politini told Reuters.

"We have the normal checkpoints and patrols all about the place, and we also have the ability to upgrade that very quickly should the need arise," he said.

Fiji's economy has been crippled by the crisis, with sanctions hitting the manufacturing sector and tourists avoiding the country's resorts.

Rebel supporters destabilized the country further before the release of the hostages, occupying key electricity plants and police stations and blocking major access roads.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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