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Army Chief Frank Bainimarama declared in July 2005 that he
would not hesitate to overthrow the government if it
continued with its amnesty plans for those involved in the
2000 coup attempt.
In March 2006, the Chiefs Grand Council elected President
Iloilo for a new term of 5 years. In May, former Prime
Minister Rabuka was accused of organizing the failed coup
attempt. In the same month, Qarase won the parliamentary
elections and won 30 of the 59 seats in parliament,
The political situation peaked at the end of the year. In
October, Prime Minister Qarase tried in vain to remove Chief
Bainimarama from the post. In early December, President
Iloilo dissolved parliament. Still, Bainimarama conducted a
military coup. In January 2007, he re-elected Iloilo as
president, but "temporarily" retained the post of prime
minister. In May, he raised the state of emergency and
declared that general elections would be held in 2010. A
promise he later broke.
In September 2007, Bainimarama introduced a state of
emergency for 1 month. He reasoned that Qarase had returned
from his exile on the island of Vanua Balavu, spreading lies
and seeking to destabilize the country. In August 2008, he
also assumed the post of finance minister after Chaudhry and
the rest of the labor party ministers resigned from the
interim government.
In April 2009, an appeals court issued a ruling that
Bainimarama's removal of the government in December 2006 had
been in violation of the Constitution. Bainimarama then
resigned from the post of prime minister. President Iloilo
then stated that he had put the Constitution out of force
and had canceled all judicial appointments. Iloilo then
placed Bainimarama back in the post of prime minister. The
United Nations Security Council and the outside world
expressed serious concern over developments in the country.
The Pacific Islands Forum, which consists of the Pacific
countries, went one step further and suspended Fiji's
membership on May 1. The first exclusion in the forum's
38-year history. The Commonwealth suspended Fiji from his
council, giving the country the deadline for September 1 to
set a date for re-election. Otherwise, the country would be
completely suspended.
In July 2009, 88-year-old Iloilo resigned from the
presidential post and was replaced by Brigadier General
Epeli Nailatikau.
In November 2009, Bainimarama gave envoys from Australia
and New Zealand 24 hours to leave the country after
controversy arose about dismissing the country's judges in
April and replacing them with Sri Lankan judges. By
September, Fiji's membership to the Commonwealth had been
suspended.
In September 2011, the Bainimarama government implemented
severe restrictions on the rights of the working class.
Strikes were banned - except in very special situations; all
agreements terminated and shop stewards prohibited. In
September 2012, an ILO delegation was thrown out of the
country.
In July 2012, the government initiated by decree a
process for revision of the constitution. At the same time,
general legal immunity was issued to all participants in the
2006 coup. In August, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase was
sentenced to 12 months in prison for "corruption". As early
as January, the British Law Society Charity had issued a
report stating that Fiji could no longer be described as a
state of law.
In November 2012, Fiji recognized Kosova as an
independent state and diplomatic relations were established
in February 2013. |
