Fiji parliament confirms Sitiveni Rabuka as prime minister after days of uncertainty - The Guardian

Sitiveni Rabuka has go Fiji’s premier curate aft a conjugation of parties voted to instal him, signalling an extremity to Frank Bainimarama’s 16 years successful power.

The assignment of Rabuka connected Saturday ended 10 days of uncertainty aft an predetermination delivered a hung parliament. Fiji’s Social Democratic Liberal enactment (Sodelpa) held the equilibrium of powerfulness and connected Friday voted to signifier a conjugation with Rabuka’s People’s Alliance and the National Federation party.

The woody was designed to dislodge Fiji First’s Frank Bainimarama, who has led the Pacific archipelago since a 2006 coup.

Saturday’s concealed parliamentary ballot for premier curate was person than had been expected, with 28 members of parliament voting for Rabuka portion 27 voted successful enactment of Bainimarama. Rabuka’s conjugation holds 29 seats successful parliament, indicating that 1 subordinate had breached ranks to ballot successful favour of the erstwhile premier minister.

Rabuka, 74, said helium felt “humbled” to beryllium premier curate arsenic helium made his mode retired of parliament to beryllium sworn successful by the country’s president.

The subject had been deployed connected the streets of Suva arsenic Rabuka and Bainimarama raced to cobble unneurotic a conjugation authorities pursuing a deadlocked wide election.

Citing unsubstantiated reports of taste violence, Bainimarama said the subject was needed to support “law and order”.

But erstwhile subject commandant Rabuka, who served arsenic premier curate betwixt 1992 and 1999, said the authorities was “sowing fearfulness and chaos” and “trying to acceptable the federation alight on radical lines”.

Many Fijians feared the government’s claims of taste unit and consequent subject deployment were a pretext for a “creeping coup”. Fiji has been upended by 4 coups successful the past 35 years.

New Zealand’s premier minister, Jacinda Ardern, congratulated Rabuka connected his assignment and said her state looked guardant to moving with Fiji’s caller authorities to fortify “our precise lukewarm relationship”.

“We powerfully worth Fiji arsenic a adjacent person and spouse arsenic we advancement our shared priorities for the region.”

Ardern said Bainimarama had an “important bequest for Fiji and his relation arsenic a determination person supporting enactment connected determination issues, including clime change”.

Fiji has been pivotal successful the South Pacific’s effect to expanding contention for power betwixt China and the United States. Rabuka has said helium favours western-style democracy.

At a property league earlier this month, Sodelpa’s person said helium wanted Fiji’s overseas relations to beryllium intimately aligned with Australia, New Zealand and immoderate members of the Pacific Islands Forum.

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report