CONFRONTING FIJI FUTURES EDITED BY A. HAROON AKRAM-LODHI Published by ANU eView The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email:
[email protected] This title is also available online at eview.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Title: Confronting Fiji futures / A Haroon Akram-Lodhi (editor). ISBN: 9781921934292 (paperback) 9781921934308 (ebook) Subjects: Fiji--Politics and government. Fiji--Economic conditions. Fiji--Social conditions. Other Creators/Contributors: Akram-Lodhi, A. Haroon (Agha Haroon), 1958- editor. Dewey Number: 320.099611 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU Press. Cover photograph by M M (padmanaba01): www.flickr.com/photos/43423301@N07/3997565309/ First published 2000 by Asia Pacific Press This edition © 2016 ANU eView Stop Press Confronting the Present: The Coup of May 2000 A Haroon Akram-Lodhi On 19 May 2000, as With widespread doubt community politics that it ConfrontingFiji Futures went about who was in charge of suggested was not universal. to press, a group of 7 men the country, the Great It can be argued that the armed with machine guns Council of Chiefs met. On25 failure of the senior entered the Parliamentary May, following an intensely members of the government Complex in Suva. They took divided meeting, the council to recognise and seek to the Prime Minister, authorised the President to strengthen the fragility of Mahendra Chaudhry, establish, pending the the political consensus members of the Cabinet, and release of the hostages and helped create a climate that other members of the Fiji the resignation of the Prime made the coup possible.