Bavadra plans to bring guilty to justice

Press, 21 May 1987, Page 1

Bavadra plans to bring guilty to justice

NZPA-AAP Suva The freed Prime Minister, Dr Timoci Bavadra, has vowed to hold a full inquiry into his overthrow and imprisonment to bring those guilty to justice. In his first private interview since his release yesterday, he said the plot behind the coup, including the alleged involvement of the former Prime Minister, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, " would be fully investigated. ‘.‘l will hold a Royal Commission into the whole thing ... the coup, the corruption,” he told AAP as he sipped yaqona (kava) with the other 27 Government members of Parliament also released. Angrily he recounted his six days under house arrest at the Prime Minister’s official residence. “I was held constantly at gunpoint,” he said. “Last night (Tuesday) a squad of soldiers burst into a room (where he was being visited by his wife, Quini) and pointed rifles at both of us. “It was senseless. Later they told me it was. for my own protection. Can you believe it? For my own protection. I am lucky to be alive today.” His first act after being freed was to send a letter to the Governor-General, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, seeking an audience to argue against plans to dissolve Parliament, change the Constitution, and hold fresh elections. Saying he was willing to consider a new poll in the national interest, Dr Bavadra said his Government would be returned with “a thumping majority.” “Nothing is going to stop us

from governing again. I know I am the Prime Minister,” he said. “The Governor-General cannot do these things without my consent or advice.

“Why do they (the coup leaders) want to change the Constitution now after it worked for their (the Ratu Mara Alliance) Government for 16 years?”

Dr Bavadra said he had no doubt that Ratu Mara was behind the coup. Earlier, he told a crowd of about 500 supporters that Ratu Mara had remained silent since the Alliance Party lost power just over a month ago only to appear in the council of Ministers appointed by Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka.

“You can put two and two together,” he said. In spite of his outrage, Dr Bavadra was unsure of the motives for Colonel Rabuka’s marching his Government out of office and declaring a military regime. But he was adamant that the coup leader should be brought to trial.

“Rabuka should be charged,” he said, rejecting a promise by the Governor-General to give amnesty to all involved in the seizing of power. When asked what with, he said, “Well, treason is the highest charge for this.” Meanwhile, he praised both the efforts of Australia and New Zealand and the foreign press for his release.

Similarly, he described Ratu Sir Penaia as a “man of great courage who was able to counter pressure from Rabuka (to legitimise the takeover).’”