Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai'i at Manoa
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SUVA, Fiji Islands (May 22, 2000 - USP Journalism Programme)---Former Fiji
parliamentarian and leader of the nationalist Taukei Movement, Apisai Tora,
today refused an offer to join George Speight's civilian coup.
"While I sympathies with the cause, I do not approve of the methods which
have been taken," Tora said in a nationwide broadcast.
Tora staged a protest March on April 22 and was the first one to protest
against Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry's Fiji Labour Party-led coalition
government.
In a protest march last month, he accused Chaudhry of being dictatorial. He
also questioned the role indigenous Fijian ministers in the cabinet were
playing in addressing land issues.
Tora also declared in Fijian in last month's protest march that he was
willing to shed blood and lay down his life for the protection of Fijian
Interests.
However, in his public statement today, he said his Taukei Movement had
nothing to do with the attempt to topple the Chaudhry government and that he
did not endorse the action.
He said they had their own plan to help Fiji which he called a "much more
logical" approach.
The chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs, Sitiveni Rabuka, has called for
the council to meet tomorrow and discuss the current crisis.
This appears to be a difficult task for the chiefs who are faced with
transport problems. Many have difficult terrain to cross and lack of
transport is a barrier.
Coup leader Speight has announced that he would meet with the Great Council
tomorrow to explain his and his fellow coup leaders' actions.
Reports said this was an ironical change from the statements he had made
immediately after forcibly taking over government at the point of a gun last
Friday, when he announced that the Great Council of Chiefs no longer
existed.
Speight denied claims that his men fired guns into the air in Parliament
last night despite eyewitness reports that it was some of his security
officers doing the shooting.
In other developments, police are urging people not to put up political
banners because they could incite political disputes.
Copyright © 2000 Journalism Program
University of the South Pacific
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