Fiji Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====2006 coup d'état==== In late November and early December 2006, Bainimarama was instrumental in the [[2006 Fijian coup d'état]]. Bainimarama handed down a list of demands to Qarase after a bill was put forward to parliament, part of which would have offered pardons to participants in the 2000 coup attempt. He gave Qarase an ultimatum date of 4 December to accede to these demands or to resign from his post. Qarase adamantly refused either to concede or resign, and on 5 December President Ratu [[Josefa Iloilo]] signed a legal order dissolving the parliament after meeting with Bainimarama. Citing corruption in the government, Bainimarama staged a military takeover on 5 December 2006 against the prime minister that he had installed after a 2000 coup. The commodore took over the powers of the presidency and dissolved the parliament, paving the way for the military to continue the takeover. The coup was the culmination of weeks of speculation following conflict between the elected prime minister, Laisenia Qarase, and Bainimarama. Bainimarama had repeatedly issued demands and deadlines to the prime minister. A particular issue was previously pending legislation to pardon those involved in the 2000 coup. Bainimarama named [[Jona Senilagakali]] as caretaker prime minister. The next week Bainimarama said he would ask the Great Council of Chiefs to restore executive powers to the president, Ratu Josefa Iloilo.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10414033 |title=Fiji – alone under the gun |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |author=Phil Taylor |date=6 December 2006 |access-date=30 September 2007}}</ref> On 4 January 2007, the military announced that it was restoring executive power to Iloilo,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_34881.shtml |title=Commander hands back executive authority to Ratu Iloilo |publisher=FijiVillage.com |date=4 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070107051230/http://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_34881.shtml |archive-date=7 January 2007 }}</ref> who made a broadcast endorsing the actions of the military.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.fijilive.com/news/show/news/2007/01/04/04fijilive09.html |title=I support army takeover: Iloilo |publisher=Fijilive |date=4 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070125100134/http://www.fijilive.com/news/show/news/2007/01/04/04fijilive09.html |archive-date=25 January 2007 }}</ref> The next day, Iloilo named Bainimarama as the interim prime minister,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.fijilive.com/news/show/news/2007/01/05/05fijilive08.html |title=President swears in interim PM |publisher=Fijilive |date=5 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070125100307/http://www.fijilive.com/news/show/news/2007/01/05/05fijilive08.html |archive-date=25 January 2007 }}</ref> indicating that the military was still effectively in control. In the wake of the takeover, reports emerged of alleged intimidation of some of those critical of the interim regime. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page