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FIJI: COUP PRIME MINISTER REJECTS WESTERN DEMOCRACY December 7, 2006

Zainab Osman

(SomaliNet) Fiji's Prime Minister, Jona Senilagakali, admitted that although Tuesday's coup was "illegal", Australia and New Zealand to back off and let a "different type of democracy" emerge in Fiji. The military, continued to dismantle the old order, removing Vice President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi from office and sacking Australian Andrew Hughes as the nation's police commissioner.

However, Dr.Senilagakali told Fijians that it will be a long time before peace is fully achieved; he added that it was up to the military president and the military advisers to take Fiji back to normalcy. "Hopefully in 12 months, two years, we'll be able to have a general election, but we will do that (continue to govern) until we are certain that what we are going to do in the future will be for the best interests of the people of Fiji."

He said Fiji would seek assistance from Asian economies such as Indonesia, Taiwan and China to circumvent sanctions, just as it did following the coups in 1987.

Australia has described the coup as a move towards dictatorship, and along with New Zealand and the US, has already imposed a series of sanctions.

The military has dismissed a number of government officials including Acting Police Commissioner Moses Driver and several top civil servants for speaking out against its overthrow of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. And it sacked Assistant Police Commissioner Kevueli Bulamainaivalu, Public Service Commission chairman Stuart Huggett and chief executive Anare Jale, Solicitor General Nairendra Nand, Prime Minister's Office chief executive Jioji Kotobalavu.

"The RFMF (Republic of Fiji Military Forces) has warned it will not tolerate any public outbursts against its effort to accommodate a peaceful transition currently taking place in the country," military spokesman Major Neumi Leweni said in a statement.