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Fiji leader says ethnic Indians will not rule again
Fiji`s interim leader has delivered a blunt message that minority ethnic Indians will never again rule the troubled South Pacific nation.
Fiji's interim leader has delivered a blunt message that minority ethnic Indians will never again rule the troubled South Pacific nation.
Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase said in a speech at the University of the South Pacific in the capital Suva: ''They will not allow a return to a leadership that was seen by many Fijians to be blatantly discriminatory against Fijians.'' ''The general feeling among Fijians is that there must be better and stronger guarantees for indigenous Fijians to be in control of their political destiny.''
Qarase's interim government was installed by the military in July at the height of a coup crisis that began in may when gunmen stormed Parliament in the name of indigenous rights and then held ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudry and much of his cabinet hostage for 56 days. Qarase, who has been given the task of reviewing Fiji's Constitution and organising elections within two years, has previously said that the country's multi-ethnic Constitution will not be reinstated.
Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase said in a speech at the University of the South Pacific in the capital Suva: ''They will not allow a return to a leadership that was seen by many Fijians to be blatantly discriminatory against Fijians.'' ''The general feeling among Fijians is that there must be better and stronger guarantees for indigenous Fijians to be in control of their political destiny.''
Qarase's interim government was installed by the military in July at the height of a coup crisis that began in may when gunmen stormed Parliament in the name of indigenous rights and then held ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudry and much of his cabinet hostage for 56 days. Qarase, who has been given the task of reviewing Fiji's Constitution and organising elections within two years, has previously said that the country's multi-ethnic Constitution will not be reinstated.
Bureau Report