Fiji interim PM denies sacking Finance Minister Chaudhry
Updated
Fiji's Interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama has denied he is trying to sack his finance minister, Mahendra Chaudhry. Overnight a series of meeting were held in Fiji between the Commodore, the Military Council and other high ranking interim ministers. As Pacific Correspondent Campbell Cooney reports the Commodore is doing his best to try to end the debate.
Presenter: Campbell Cooney, Pacific correspondent
Speaker: Fiji's interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimara, on Legend FM in Suva
COONEY: When Fiji's interim Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama was asked on Legend FM in Suva, if he had sacked his Finance Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, he was unable to resist the temptation to link his answer to recent rumours about Mr Chaudry's political future.
BAINIMARAMA: We'll have to seek endorsement from Helen Clark and Rabuka who have said that Mr Chaudhry's going to be the next prime minister. So I don't know how you can get him to resign, when these two have said that he will be the next prime minister.
COONEY: But when he was asked again, this was his response.
BAINIMARAMA: I am not repeating that matter.
COONEY: The commodore says the speculation about his interim finance minister was raised after interim attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, was the person negotiating the return to work of the bottled water industry, which had shut down in protest of a new 20 cent per litre levy introduced by Mr Chaudhry. Mr Chaudhry was absent at those negotiations.
Commodore Bainimarama says there is a simple reason.
BAINIMARAMA: We wanted somebody from the outside with a different outlook on the problem. We have used the attorney-general in the past in that manner, and the latest being the bus strike, and we thought we would use him again last night, and we didn't really want Mr Chaudhry in, we just wanted to tell him last night that what we were willing to do, and that was probably where the speculation came from, because he didn't attend the meeting.
COONEY: The commodore's also confirmed there have been meetings with members of Fiji's Military Council, which he says were to discuss the bottled water dispute. He's also confirmed he met with Mr Chaudhry, and he gave this explanation about what was discussed at the meeting.
BAINIMARAMA: We talked about what happened last night and I also wanted to tell him that he needs to put a cabinet paper for tomorrow. Tomorrow is an emergency cabinet meeting to endorse the actions that were taken last night.
