By JERUSALEM POST STAFFPublished: APRIL 10, 2009 04:16Advertisement
Fiji's president assumed control Friday and fired the judges who a day earlier had declared the military government illegal, deepening the troubled South Pacific country's political turmoil.
President Ratu Josefa Iloilo announced in a nationally broadcast radio address that he had abolished the constitution, assumed all governing power and revoked all judicial appointments.
"I hereby confirm I have abrogated the 1997 constitution and appointed myself as head of state in the new order," Iloilo said in the address.
The move came one day after the country's second-highest court ruled that armed forces chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama's government that took power after a 2006 coup was illegal, effectively creating a power vacuum.
var cont = `Sign up for The Jerusalem Post Premium Plus for just $5
Upgrade your reading experience with an ad-free environment and exclusive content