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Coup of 2006 |
The following timeline chronicles the crisis that saw a virtual breakdown in relations between Fiji's government and military fores in late 2005 and early 2006, until it was resolved on 16 January with a truce brokered by Acting President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi.
Source: Fiji Times, 15 January 2006; some details from other sources.
9 January 2006 (Monday), 8.00 a.m.: Commodore Josaia Vorege (Frank) Bainimarama, the Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, meets senior officers and allegedly orders them to free him by force in the event of his arrest.
Despite his role in the appointment of an interim government in 2000, many of whose members form the nucleus of the present government, Bainimarama has since grown disenchanted with it, accusing it of dealing too leniently with convicted perpetrators of a civilian coup and two army mutinies that rocked Fiji in 2000.
10 January 2006 (Tuesday), 8.30 a.m.: Acting Land Force Commander Lieutenant Colonel Jone Baledrokadroka meets with Senior Military Officers to solicit their endorsement.
11 January 2006 (Wednesday), 10.30 a.m.: Baledrokadroka explains to Bainimarama that the purpose of the previous day's meeting had been Reverse psychology, a military tactic to expose traitors. Bainimarama claims to have believed him.
12 January 2006 (Thursday):
13 January 2006 (Friday):
14 January 2006 (Saturday): Bainimarama accuses Baledrokadroka of having threatened to shoot him. Baledrokadroka angrily denies this.
16 January 2006 (Monday): Acting President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi brokers a truce between the Military Commander and the government.
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Josaia Voreqe BainimaramaFijian: [tʃoˈsɛia βoˈreŋɡe mbɛiniˈmarama] is the 8th and current prime minister of Fiji since 2007. He is commonly known as Frank Bainimarama and sometimes by the chief title Ratu. He was a naval officer and commander of the Fijian Military Forces.
Ratu Ovini Bokini Ratu was a Fijian chief and political leader. Bokini, who held the chiefly title of Tui Tavua, succeeded Ratu Epeli Ganilau as Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs on 21 July 2004, and was re-elected to this post for a full three-year term on 27 July 2005.
Ratu Jope Naucabalavu Seniloli was a Fijian chief who held the title of Turaga Taukei Naua and who served as Fiji's Vice-President from 25 March 2001 to 29 November 2004, when he was forced to resign following his conviction for treason on 6 August 2004, and the rejection of his appeal early in November.
Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, Lord Madraiwiwi Tangatatonga was a prominent Fijian lawyer, legal scholar, jurist, and politician. He served as Vice-President, and also acting President, of Fiji, and Chief Justice of Nauru.
Following the quashing of George Speight's civilian coup d'état in 2000, the Military handed power over to a civilian administration led by the banker, Laisenia Qarase, who won the parliamentary election held to restore democracy in September 2001. Despite the role of the military in the rise to power of the Qarase government, relations between them noticeably deteriorated subsequently, to the extent that by July 2004, the Military was threatening to overthrow the government.
Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, has 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 coup, 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.
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.
Adi Finau Tamari Tabakaucoro is a former Fijian politician, who served as Assistant Minister for Women, Culture, and Social Welfare in the interim Cabinet formed by Laisenia Qarase in the wake of the Fiji coup of 2000. She held office till an elected government took power in September 2001. She stood as an independent candidate in the Tailevu South Lomaiviti Open Constituency in the 2001 election, but was not successful.
Dr. Lesi Korovavala is a former Fijian civil servant, who served as the chief executive officer of the Ministry for Home Affairs. He is a former senior Military officer with a doctorate in military studies, he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was also aide-de-camp to President Ratu Penaia Ganilau for a time.
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.
Colonel Ratu Meli Saubulinayau is a former Fijian career soldier, who, as of January 2006, headed the Strategic Unit in Suva. He was appointed to the post at the beginning of January 2006. Previously the Acting Land Force Commander, he had been effectively the second in rank to Commodore Frank Bainimarama, the Commander Republic of Fiji Military Forces, and it was rumoured that he had been removed from this post because of differences with the Commander, but Military spokesman Captain Neumi Leweni denied this on 13 January 2006, according to the Fiji Times.
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 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.
Colonel Jone Baledrokadroka is a former career soldier who joined the Army in 1981 and was commissioned after attending an Officers commissioning course in Fiji. He was briefly the Acting Land Force Commander in January 2006. He was dismissed from this position on 13 January 2006, after only two days in the post. He disagreed with the Commander on issues affecting the Military and attempted to shut out the Commander from the barracks. His attempt to rally the troops to his cause failed; they saw it as a coup attempt against the Commander and withheld their support for his actions. Baledrokadroka was dismissed as a result. Prior to his appointment as Acting Land Force Commander, Baledrokadroka had attended the Defence and Strategic Studies Course at the Australian Defence College, Canberra,in 2003.
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.