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Fiji vice president could be forced from office by coup charge
Suva, May 09: Fiji`s vice president could be forced from office over charges that he took part in a coup that toppled the south pacific nation`s elected government three years ago, new reports said today.
Suva, May 09: Fiji's vice president could be forced
from office over charges that he took part in a coup that
toppled the south pacific nation's elected government three
years ago, new reports said today.
The Fiji Sun newspaper said Ratu Jope Seniloli's appearance in court yesterday in the capital, Suva, raises the "question of him vacating his high office."
The report cited Fiji's constitution, which states that the vice president may be removed from office for "misbehavior." Seniloli was formally charged yesterday with taking an unlawful oath to commit a capital offense and taking an unlawful oath to engage in sedition. He was not required to enter a plea.
Both charges carry a maximum penalty of death, but Fiji is in the process of repealing the death penalty. No one has been executed in recent years. Seniloli's charges stem from his being sworn in as president by an illegal nationalist regime installed immediately after the coup, led by failed businessman George Speight.
The army soon declared the new regime illegal and placed Fiji under martial law. Speight is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to treason. Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, who took office after democratic elections in 2001, was quoted saying he "would let the courts decide" on Seniloli's situation.
Political scientist Jonathan Fraenkal of the university of the South Pacific said on New Zealand's national radio the charges against the president were "very significant" because Fijians tend "to turn a blind eye sometimes to crimes committed by those of high social status."
Bureau Report
The report cited Fiji's constitution, which states that the vice president may be removed from office for "misbehavior." Seniloli was formally charged yesterday with taking an unlawful oath to commit a capital offense and taking an unlawful oath to engage in sedition. He was not required to enter a plea.
Both charges carry a maximum penalty of death, but Fiji is in the process of repealing the death penalty. No one has been executed in recent years. Seniloli's charges stem from his being sworn in as president by an illegal nationalist regime installed immediately after the coup, led by failed businessman George Speight.
The army soon declared the new regime illegal and placed Fiji under martial law. Speight is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to treason. Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, who took office after democratic elections in 2001, was quoted saying he "would let the courts decide" on Seniloli's situation.
Political scientist Jonathan Fraenkal of the university of the South Pacific said on New Zealand's national radio the charges against the president were "very significant" because Fijians tend "to turn a blind eye sometimes to crimes committed by those of high social status."
Bureau Report