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Troops have seized weapons from Fiji's only armed police unit, sparking fears the military may have launched the Pacific island nation's fourth coup in two decades.
Tensions escalated dramatically ahead of an expected press conference by military commander Voreqe Bainimarama Monday evening, although reports that the military would blockade the capital overnight proved unfounded.
At around 10:45 am five army trucks brought soldiers to the police tactical response unit — the only other armed security force — and began loading arms into two trucks.
By mid-afternoon the loaded trucks remained at the police offices but about 20 armed troops had also gone to the main police barracks in Suva.
Police chiefs ordered “that no officer from the Fiji police is to confront armed soldiers and we stand by that directive”, a police statement said.
The police armoury mainly stores hand guns for protection work and low velocity firearms for dealing with armed criminals, police said.
Military spokesman Major Neumi Leweni said he did not want to comment ahead of Bainimarama's press conference.
Bainimarama has repeatedly threatened to force the government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase from office in a “peaceful transition” unless the premier agrees to resign.
He had earlier given a deadline of Friday last week for the government to agree to a series of demands or face toppling, but the deadline passed without incident.
One key demand was for the police tactical response unit to be disbanded because the military believes only the armed forces should carry guns. Other police units in Fiji are not armed.
On Sunday, Bainimarama demanded Qarase quit or the military would “look for ways to obtain his resignation” as a weeks-long stand-off between the two arch-rivals reached boiling point.
Asked how long the military would wait before acting, he said: “I'm telling you the quicker we do it, the better.”
Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said a military ouster in Fiji appeared imminent and called for Bainimarama to respect the rule of law and not to “destroy democracy”.
“It is clear that Fiji is on the brink of a coup and this government, and I think it's fair to say this country, supports the continuation of the democratically-elected government, we support the constitution and we support the rule of law,” Downer told parliament.
Bainimarama said Sunday Fijians should not fear what would happen in the following couple of days.
Qarase remained defiant Monday against the rebellious commander's calls for him to stand down, but added he was still open to talks with the military to try to prevent a coup.
Qarase said he and Bainimarama were talking indirectly through Vice-President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, but added he was ready to hold face-to-face talks with his rival to defuse the crisis.
“I certainly would welcome face-to-face discussions but I think he does not like the idea,” Qarase told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from his office.
The prime minister also insisted his government enjoys the support of Fiji's people, despite Bainimarama's claim Sunday that Qarase had already effectively lost power.
“There is an outpouring of opinions from all sectors of our community, from the religious leaders, from the NGOs (non-government agencies), from political leaders, from leaders of the vanua (indigenous communities),” he said.
“It is coming in loud and clear. They all want to enjoy life within a democratic system of government.”
Bainimarama accuses Qarase's nationalist United Fiji Party government of being soft on plotters of a racially-fuelled coup in 2000 and of favouring the indigenous majority in the country over its ethnic Indian minority.
Tensions came to a head after he labelled talks with Qarase earlier in the week as a failure and rejected wide-ranging concessions from the premier.
