Chaudhry told Fiji Times Online he had a meeting with interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama earlier yesterday morning in relations to issues surrounding the bottled water industry and other issues.
When asked to comment on the speculation of him been asked to step down from his ministerial position, Chaudhry said: “Who orchestrated the speculations, this was done by my critics and the western and international countries. I will be briefing the cabinet on the issues that were discussed with Commodore Bainimarama this morning. And no, I was never asked to step down from my position as finance minister.”
Bainimarama confirmed on a radio station that he didn’t ask Chaudhry to resign.
“What I want to say is: he’ll have to seek endorsement from New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and (former Prime Minister Sitiveni) Rabuka who have said that Chaudhry is going to be the next prime minister,” Bainimarama told Legend FM
“So I don’t know how we can get him to resign when these two have said that he will be the next prime minister,” he said.
Earlier, ousted Fiji Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase said he believed that Chaudhry had been sacked on Wednesday night by the country’s military council, but that decision was overruled by Bainimarama.
The council includes a group of senior military officers who, since the last coup, have been advising the government and endorsing the actions of Bainimarama.
“Confusion reigns I suppose at the present time. I had a call very early in the morning from a very reliable source that Chaudhry has been sacked, the interim minister of finance. I was ready to speak to all the media people who wanted to speak to me,” Qarase said.
“I went to a party management board meeting and I came out. I thought we were going to have a celebration and then it was a different story. It was that the decision has been rescinded and Chaudhry is in his office doing his job as normal.,” he added.
“At the same time I hear that the…military council is meeting up at the camp, so that is about all I know at the present time. It could be the start of a very serious split between the council and the interim prime minister. This is not the first time that they have differed,” Qarase said.
Fiji’s interim Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said he would not comment on the reports.
“Mate, you have got to get your sources right. You are asking me to report on rumor-mongering. I am not going to be privy to any such interview,” he said.
