Tora denies allegations
Tora, meanwhile, denied the allegations. He said that the meeting to which the Commander referred took place before Iloilo's inauguration as President, not after. Commodore Bainimarama must be confused, he considered, and said he was preparing a written document to defend himself.
On 29 August, Attorney-General Bale challenged Bainimarama to come clean with everything he knew about the alleged plot to remove President Iloilo in 2001. "Like everyone else we want to know what happened and who was involved and what transpired," Bale said. "And if the Commander can answer these questions then he should do so."
On 29–30 August, the war of words between Commodore Bainimarama and Senator Tora appeared to be escalating. Referring to Bainimarama's allegations about his role in the events of 2000, Tora protested his innocence and accused the Commander of hypocrisy, saying that the Bainimarama himself had forced the resignation of the Iloilo's presidential predecessor, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara on 29 May 2000. Speaking on the floor of the Senate, he said that Bainimarama was calling the reputation of the Military into disrepute, and called on him to stand aside in favour of "a real army man" who could restore its honour.
Rejecting Tora's attack, Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Orisi Rabukawaqa said that Commodore Bainimarama had the full support of his troops.
Police investigation
Bulamainaivalu said on 29 August that it was up to Commodore Bainimarama to file an official report and sign it. Until then, the police could do nothing, he said. He added on 31 August that the allegations against Tora and five other Fijian Holdings board members were not new. Investigations into an alleged plot involving them had been opened in 2003, he said, following allegations from Labour MP Poseci Bune. The files had no expiry date, said Bulamainaivalu; investigations would continue as new evidence came to light. His comments were echoed by police spokeswoman Sylvia Low.
Tora's denial of Bainimarama's allegations was supported by Prime Minister Qarase, who said on 31 August that he had been at the meeting referred to by Commodore Bainimarama, and that the question of deposing President Iloilo had not been discussed. Bainimarama reiterated his allegations on 1 September, however. "The meeting took place and I will not change my stand on that," Bainimarama said. "It did take place."
Bainimarama made an official statement to the police on 5 September, Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes and Deputy Commissioner Moses Driver revealed. A team of Criminal Investigation Officers interviewed the Military commander at length, but both parties refused to divulge to the media the details of what was discussed. Bainimarama said after the meeting, however, that he was willing to testify in court against the people he had named.
The president of Fiji is the head of state of Republic of Fiji. The president is appointed by the Parliament for a three-year term under the terms of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji. Although not entirely a figurehead, the role of president in the government is largely ceremonial, but there are important reserve powers that may be exercised in the event of a crisis. In addition, the president is the commander-in-chief of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.
Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, commonly known as Frank Bainimarama, is the 8th and current prime minister of Fiji since 2007. A member of the Fiji First Party, he began his career as a naval officer and commander of the Fijian Military Forces.
Fiji Week was a week of prayer meetings and multicultural programmes that took place the week of 4–11 October 2004. Organized at a cost of US$410,000 by a multiracial national committee chaired by the Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase, Fiji Week was intended to foster reconciliation among Fiji's diverse ethnic communities, especially native Fijians and Indo-Fijians, whose mutual rivalry for political power has dominated Fijian politics for the last generation, and whose relationship has been especially strained since the overthrow of the Indo-Fijian-led government of Mahendra Chaudhry by ethnic Fijian nationalists in the Fiji coup of 2000. Organizers of Fiji Week hoped that it would help to bring about a sense of closure to those events, but the controversy that it generated made this appear difficult to achieve.
Two military mutinies took place in connection with the civilian coup d'état that occurred in Fiji in 2000, the first while the rebellion instigated by George Speight was in progress, and the second four months after it had ended.
The Constitution of Fiji, which had been abrogated by the interim military government of Commodore Frank Bainimarama, was reinstated by the High Court on 15 November that year. This ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 1 March 2001. Since then, a police investigation has begun, and a number of high-profile trials have taken place, resulting in the conviction and imprisonment of some members of the present government, which came to power in the wake of the coup.
Mohammad Apisai Vuniyayawa Tora was a Fijian politician, soldier, and trade unionist. As a labour leader, he was a fighter for dock workers. As a soldier, he served in Malaya and later served as President of the Ex-Servicemen's League.
Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, had been a vociferous and uncompromising critic of the government's proposal to establish a Reconciliation and Unity Commission, with the power to grant compensation to victims of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état, and amnesty to perpetrators of it. Among other objections, the Military claimed that its integrity and discipline would be undermined if soldiers who mutinied in the 2000 upheaval were to be pardoned.
A number of separate, but overlapping, investigations were conducted by the police into various aspects of the 2000 coup. These investigations include the organization and financing of the coup, and the identity of the perpetrators. Some alleged that George Speight was only a front-man for a shadowy group of politicians and businessmen; former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka was reported to be one of those under investigation. Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes revealed on 4 January 2006 that seven major investigations were currently in progress. In addition, a number of other investigations have either taken place or are being considered.
A number of prominent participants in the 2000 Fijian coup d'état were tried, and some convicted, in 2004 and 2005. Many of those tried include Cabinet Minister, parliamentarians, and others who have links to the present government, which has come under criticism from some quarters for releasing on parole some of the persons convicted.
The Constitution of Fiji requires general elections for the House of Representatives to be held at least once every five years. The last election before Fiji's 2014 election was held on 6–13 May 2006. Acting President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi issued a proclamation on 2 March, effective from 27 March, dissolving Parliament. The previous parliamentary term had been due to expire on 1 October 2006.
The Reconciliation and Unity Commission was a proposed government body to be set up if the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, which was introduced into the Fijian Parliament on 4 May 2005 was passed. The legislation proposed to empower the Commission to grant amnesty to perpetrators of the Fiji coup of 2000, and compensation to victims of it from 19 May 2000 through 15 March 2001. The Fijian President would retain a veto over the granting of amnesty.
Andrew Charles Hughes was an Australian police officer of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) who served as the Chief Police Officer (CPO) for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Head of the United Nations Police Division. The CPO position is similar to the role of Australian Commissioners of Police, that is, the chief executive of the ACT Policing component of the AFP. ACT Policing forms one of the larger operating components of Australia's national policing agency, the Australian Federal Police. He was also Commissioner of Police in Fiji from 2003 to 2006. Hughes died of bowel cancer in 2018, aged 62.
The mutiny that took place at Fiji's Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Suva on 2 November 2000 resulted in the death of four loyal soldiers. Four of the rebels were subsequently beaten to death after the rebellion had been quelled. A total of 42 soldiers from the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit, who sympathized with George Speight, whose own civilian coup d'état had been put down by the military in July, were subsequently convicted of involvement in the mutiny. Among those convicted was Ratu Inoke Takiveikata, the Qaranivalu of Naitasiri, one of Fiji's most senior chiefs.
The tension between Fiji's government and Military forces, which had been simmering for more than two years, appeared to escalate in late December 2005. Tension between the government and the Military had been simmering throughout the year, with Commodore Bainimarama and other Military officers making strongly worded public statements opposing certain government policies, including the early release from prison of persons implicated in the Fiji coup of 2000, and the government's promotion of controversial legislation to establish a Commission with the power to grant amnesty to perpetrators of the coup.
On May 21, 2003, the Police Investigations Department confirmed that they had opened an investigation into the resignation of the Fiji's former President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. Mara resigned under duress on May 29, 2000, and handed power over to Commodore Frank Bainimarama. In what politicians have called a "coup within a coup," Ratu Mara was whisked away on a warship on May 28, where he was allegedly approached by a group of present and former military and police officers who ordered him to suspend the Constitution. When he refused, the group, including Bainimarama, former Prime Minister and 1987 Coup Leader Sitiveni Rabuka, former military commander Ratu Epeli Ganilau, and former Police Commissioner Isikia Savua, are said to have forced Mara's resignation. He was subsequently taken to his home island in the Lau Islands.
The crisis that saw a virtual breakdown in relations between Fiji's government and military forces in late 2005 and early 2006, generated fears of civil unrest and even a military coup. The dismissing of Lieutenant Colonel Jone Baledrokadroka, the Acting Land Force Commander, for alleged insubordination on 12 January 2006 was coupled with unusual deployments of troops and naval vessels. Both before and after it was resolved on 16 January with a truce brokered by Acting President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, the crisis generated a great deal of comment.
Elections to the offices of President and Vice-President of Fiji took place on 8 March 2006, when the Great Council of Chiefs met as an electoral college at the Tradewinds Convention Centre in Lami. The Great Council re-elected President Ratu Josefa Iloilo and Vice-President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi to another five-year term.
The Fijian coup d'état of December 2006 was a coup d'état carried out by Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, against the government of President Josefa Iloilo. Iloilo was removed as president, but he was later reinstated by Bainimarama on 4 January 2007. The coup occurred as a continuation of the pressure which had been building since the military unrest of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état and 2005–06 Fijian political crisis.
Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda, CF, MBE, MSD, KStJ was the 3rd President of Fiji from 2000 until 2009, excluding a brief period from 5 December 2006 until 4 January 2007. He held the traditional title of Tui Vuda, the paramount chief of the Vuda district in Ba Province on Fiji's northwest coast. Like many Fijian people, he rarely used his surname and was known simply as Josefa Iloilo. He announced on 28 July 2009 that he would be leaving office on 30 July. At the age of 88, he was the world's oldest head of state.
A series of events took place in the Pacific republic of Fiji in 2006, involving an ongoing public feud between the government and military. Tensions took a dramatic turn for the worse on 11–13 January, with reports of unusual troop and naval deployments, crisis meetings of the National Security Council, and the erection of police roadblocks. Rumours also swept the capital that the Military Commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, had been arrested by the police on government orders, but the Military denied this. The crisis came to a head on the 13th, with Bainimarama announcing that he had dismissed the Acting Land Force Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jone Baledrokadroka for insubordination. This event was a precursor to the military coup that finally took place on 5 December 2006.
