rediff.com: Chaudhry calls for international intervention in Fiji

Fiji's deposed prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry has appealed to the international community to intervene in the strife-torn island nation to ensure equal rights to all people.

"The only way equal political rights can be granted to all people of Fiji would be through international intervention from organisations like the United Nations and the Commonwealth secretariat as well as regional groups in the Pacific," he told Newsweek magazine hitting the newsstands on Monday.

Stating that he believed Fiji's next constitution would be "racially weighted", Chaudhry said, "We have had three coups in the last 13 years. Each time the ethnic Indian community has been targeted."

The international community could play a useful role through mediation and try for a government of national unity. Further, it could continue to isolate Fiji until an acceptable government is in place, he said.

But for the moment, Chaudhry said, prospects for a multiracial government in Fiji look bleak. "We now have a government that is not representative at all."

The deposed premier told the magazine that there was still a threat to his security. He cannot stay in one place for too long. "So I have to be on the move until the situation stabilises. This is not as one would expect in a democratic country."

George Speight, leading a group of indigenous Fijians, stormed the country's parliament on May 19 and held Chaudhry along with dozens of his ministers hostage for 56 days.

The army, which arrested Speight and hundreds of his supporters last week ahead of the naming of a new government, has refused to restore Chaudhry to power.

Asked whether the coup leader's arrest spelt the end of Fiji's political crisis, the deposed premier said these were early days and it was difficult to say what would happen.

"The people of Indian origin have been particularly targeted. Now the military and interim government are saying they will appoint a constitutional review commission which, in all probability, will write a racially weighted constitution. I don't think we have seen the end of the crisis here," he said.

Chaudhry said he and his colleagues have demanded the return of the democratic government though they have been warned that "should we persist, we will be dealt with in accordance with the law".

Right now, said Chaudhry, Fiji has no constitution, and restoring the political rights of ethnic Indian people looks to be an uphill battle. "I am quite weak at the moment because, in captivity, I was eating only one meal a day. I have lost considerable weight, and to regain my strength, I have been advised by my doctors to go [to Australia] and have a full medical checkup.

"I suppose there will be discussions with the Australian government. I will decide from there what I will do but my first priority is to regain my health and continue with the work we have to do in order to restore democracy to Fiji," he said.

Asked whether he fears being forced into permanent exile and whether the military or interim government may block his return, Chaudhry said that is a possibility that cannot be overlooked.

To another question whether he has sought a guarantee that this will not happen, he said: "No, I have not. I don't think I need to, because I am a citizen of Fiji and was born here. I have a right to return."

Chaudhry flew on Sunday to Sydney, where he ruled out forming a government-in-exile.


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