Reports in Australia and New Zealand say that Fiji’s Prime Minister Bainimarama yesterday declared martial law by re-imposing the Public Emergency Regulations and that he did this because of comments made by the man he deposed, Laisenia Qarase, who returned to the capital Suva on Saturday.
The military are hinting they will arrest Qarase and return him to his home on the remote Lau Islands with Qarase declining to make any comment.
Under pressure from international aid donors, particularly the European Union, Fiji lifted martial law early in June, with the return to martial law was strongly condemned today by the country’s leading daily, the Fiji Times, which called it “another kick in the teeth”.
In an editorial the Fiji Times said people would be wondering what they had done to deserve this kick in the teeth and that it would further damage the tourist industry immediately with Australia and New Zealand both anticipated to upgrade their travel advisories soon.
“What exactly the interim Government hopes to achieve through the re-imposition of the regulation is hard to fathom,” the Fiji Times said.
They noted that the military had originally said Qarase’s comments on his return to Suva were “insignificant” but a short time later they were saying they had power to incite violence.
“What has changed so much in such a short time that it is necessary to invoke a law that affects the whole nation, just to control what one man may or may not say?” the paper asked.
The public had the right to know what the military really believed and the military needed to show evidence that Qarase was a threat.
“In a case such as this, the people really have a right to know the details, for vague insinuations and generalized statements are just not good enough.” “They need to be convinced that the move was necessary and right.”
Bainimarama appears to be trying for a lower level of martial law, promising to keep his soldiers in the barracks and leaving police to man roadblocks, however Bainimarama has removed the civilian police head and replaced him with navy Captain Esela Taleni.
Tourism operators in Fiji said that nothing has changed for tourists, with Fiji as safe as it ever was, from before the coup, during the coup, after the coup and even now, with the state of emergency a local political issue that would be resolved speedily.
Report by The Mole
