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Fiji's outspoken military commander warned the actions of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase could lead the country towards “bloodshed”, but said the military had no intention of mounting a coup.
Military chief Voreqe Bainimarama has repeatedly threatened to oust the Pacific country's government, accusing it of corruption.
“The last thing we want to do is have violence, the last thing we want to do is have bloodshed, but Qarase is pointing us in that direction,” he said in an interview broadcast by Radio New Zealand Thursday.
But Bainimarama, who is out of the country inspecting Fijian troops serving overseas, said the military had no intention of taking power if the government did not agree to its demands or step down.
“The military is not going to mount another coup,” he said in the interview recorded late Wednesday.
The latest crisis erupted Tuesday after senior military officers rebuffed attempts by the government to replace Bainimarama.
Tensions worsened early Wednesday as soldiers defied police and removed a 7.5-tonne shipment of ammunition from wharves in the capital Suva after failing to give a public undertaking that it would not be used against the government.
With fears of a coup mounting, Qarase said Wednesday he would not step down in the face of threats from the military.
In an address to the nation, Qarase said he was prepared to reopen dialogue with the military over its demands. He said he was calling a meeting next week of the traditional indigenous leaders, the Great Council of Chiefs, to try to resolve the stand-off.
The streets were quiet in Suva Thursday as life carried on as normal. More military vehicles than usual have been seen as reservist soldiers gather for what the armed forces have described as a regular annual camp.
Qarase said Wednesday he would not bow to military demands for his government to resign.
“I declare emphatically that there is absolutely no question of me resigning in response to the situation or of my government standing down,” the prime minister said in his first public comments since the crisis erupted on Tuesday.
He also warned the military that any attempt to overthrow his government could prompt international intervention.
“The international community is now more proactive in protecting democratically elected governments when the rule of law and its constitutionality are threatened or overturned,” he said.
Australia and New Zealand have condemned the military's stance and said they had contingency plans to evacuate citizens if violence breaks out.
Bainimarama has often accused the government of corruption and threatened to oust it over controversial legislation, including a bill that would offer amnesties to the plotters of a racially-motivated coup in 2000.
The military chief, who came close to losing his life in a mutiny associated with the coup, refused to say in the radio interview when he intended to return to Fiji.
