Auckland, Aug 14: Fiji's deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry called today for regional intervention in his troubled pacific country, which is in political limbo amid a widening constitutional crisis involving the current premier's cabinet. Fiji has been on political hiatus since July 18 when the Supreme Court issued a judgment ordering Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to include in his cabinet members of Chaudhry's rival Fiji Labour Party.
Chaudhry, an ethnic Indian, was overthrown and his FLP tossed from the government in the May 19, 2000, coup led by now-convicted traitor George Speight.
In a paper sent to the pacific forum summit that opens here today, Chaudhry said the regional organisation's declaration on regional security and governance was being used as a basis for intervention in the Solomon Islands.
"It is also in the interests of regional security and governance that we do not turn our backs on breaches committed by any single forum member country," Chaudhry said.
"This would set a dangerous precedent for the future. The crisis in the Solomon Islands is resulting in positive intervention. We ask for no less for Fiji."
Fijis current constitution, the third since independence in 1970, requires the winning party in an election to invite into cabinet members of rival parties in proportion to the total vote in general elections.
The requirement for a multi-party cabinet was an attempt to end racial politics in a country that has suffered three coups and a military mutiny.
But Qarase has so far resisted giving cabinet positions to the FLP, which won 27 parliamentary seats.
Bureau Report