Author:
Publication: BBC News
Date: November 15, 2000
The High Court in Fiji
has ruled that the government of the deposed Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry,
should be reinstated.
Justice Anthony Gates
ruled on Wednesday that the interim government set up by the military after
the coup was unlawful and unconstitutional.
But the army-backed interim
administration has said it will appeal against the verdict.
Mr Chaudhry's multi-racial
government was overthrown in May by Fijian nationalist rebels opposed to
ethnic Indians holding political office.
A lawsuit was brought
by a member of the public, who questioned whether the military had acted
legally when it scrapped the constitution that enabled Mr Chaudhry, an
ethnic Indian, to become prime minister.
In his ruling, Judge
Gates ordered President Ratu Kamisese Mara to summon an immediate sitting
of parliament so that Mr Chaudhry's government could return to power.
Australian lawyer George
Williams, who argued the case on behalf of plaintiff Chandrika Prasad,
described the ruling as "a win for the rule of law and for democracy in
Fiji."
Mr Chaudhry himself said
that his ousted coalition "urges the authorities to abide by the High Court
ruling and to recall parliament so that Fiji is back to democratic rule".
Appeal
But a lawyer for the
interim government said it would "set aside" Judge Gates's ruling pending
a decision by the Appeal Court.
"The interim government
will continue as the national government and legislative authority in Fiji",
said the country's interim Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase.
New Zealand Prime Minister
Helen Clark said the judgment was a signal to Fiji to hasten its return
to democracy.
"The sooner the government,
unconstitutional as it is in Fiji, comes up with a clear timetable to return
to constitutional democracy, the better," she said.
One analyst said that
if the army refused to back the court ruling, it would be only a symbolic
victory for Mr Chaudhry.
"There is no evidence
that the legal solution will matter very much", Associate Professor Scott
MacWilliam of the University of South Pacific told Reuters news agency.
'Unlawful'
Rebels led by George
Speight held the prime minister and members of his cabinet hostage for
almost two months after storming the parliament building in May.
A deal on the interim
government was a central part of the peace accord signed by the military
and rebels to end the hostage crisis.
A BBC correspondent in
the region says a new constitution had been expected to discriminate against
Fiji's Indian minority.
Mr Chaudhry recently
returned to Fiji after a tour of Australia, India, the UK and the US, which
he used to seek international support for his reinstatement.
Mr Speight and 21 others
face treason or treason-related charges relating to the coup attempt.