SUVA (FM96/PINA) — Reconciliation plays a big part in Fiji’s healing process. That’s the message from Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase on the second anniversary of Fiji’s May 2000 coup crisis.
In an interview, Qarase said he is determined to try and unite and reconcile the different communities.
However, Qarase said for this process to get underway, they need the support of the people in all areas.
Meanwhile, Fiji Labor Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry said the anniversary should serve as a reminder of the devastation and suffering coups have brought Fiji.
Chaudhry said a truly multi-racial nation can only be built on the foundations of respect for law, for the Constitution and the rights of all citizens. However, he said there are indicators that the nation is in distress.
Chaudhry was Fiji’s first ethnic Indian prime minister until taken hostage and deposed by indigenous Fijian rebels. Qarase leads the government elected last year as Fiji returned to democratic government.
Qarase and Chaudhry are locked in a court battle over Chaudhry’s insistence that his Fiji Labor Party is entitled to seats in Qarase’s Cabinet according to country’s Constitution. Qarase says this would be unworkable.
