Military unrest following the 2000 Fijian coup d'état

Following the quashing of George Speight's civilian coup d'état in 2000, the Military handed power over to a civilian administration led by the banker, Laisenia Qarase, who won the parliamentary election held to restore democracy in September 2001. Despite the role of the military in the rise to power of the Qarase government, relations between them noticeably deteriorated subsequently, to the extent that by July 2004, the Military was threatening to overthrow the government.

The Military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, kept a high profile following the coup. Throughout 2003 and 2004, and into 2005, he repeatedly entered the political arena to criticize government policy - especially its policy of lenience, as he saw it, towards persons responsible for the coup. Politicians countered with charges of inappropriate interference in political affairs, and some accused him of hypocrisy, saying that he himself had a case to answer for his role in Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara's resignation from the Presidency on 29 May 2000.

Major differences between the government and the Military first became public early in 2003, when the Military protested government attempts to reduce the sentences of soldiers who had been convicted of having committed acts of mutiny at the Sukunaivalu Barracks in Labasa while the coup crisis was at its height in 2000.

On 15 April 2003, Bainimarama publicly ruled out a coup against the Qarase government, but condemned calls from some government members for the release of George Speight and his accomplices, saying that they had been tried and sentenced by a court of law and should serve their sentences.

A standoff occurred between the government and the Military in 2004, over whether or not to renew Commodore Bainimarama's contract. Four Colonels - Ratu George Kadavulevu, Alfred Tuatoko, Samuela Raduva, and Akuila Buadromo, and one naval Commander, Timoci Koroi, were asked to resign for refusing to pledge personal allegiance to Commodore Bainimarama.

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Wikipedia