Court declares Fiji's military government illegal

Fiji's second-highest court declared the military government illegal Thursday and said the president should immediately appoint an interim leader to oversee a return to democracy in the coup-plagued South Pacific nation.

Military ruler Commodore Frank Bainimarama did not immediately respond to the decision but is unlikely to quit power.

The ruling of the Fiji High Court is certain to raise political tension in the country, which has suffered plummeting economic activity and long-simmering ethnic problems.

Ruling on a challenge to Bainimarama's rule brought by ousted Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, a three-judge panel said the military chief's government had come to power illegally and the "only appropriate course of action at the present time is for elections to be held to enable Fiji to get a fresh start."

The panel said President Ratu Josefa Iloilo should immediately appoint a "distinguished person" to run the government until elections could be held.

Bainimarama seized power in 2006 - the country's fourth coup in 20 years - after months of bickering with Qarase, whom he accused of discriminating in favor of indigenous Fijians that were his power base.

After the coup, Bainimarama convinced Iloilo to formally install his government to prevent further instability - a move that Bainimarama claimed makes his government legitiate.

The military chief has long promised he would call elections to restore democracy, but has defied international pressure and sanctions to do so quickly.

He says he wants to reform the constitution and election laws to remove discrimination toward the country's large ethnic Indian minority - a proess that could take years.

Justices Ian Lloyd, Randall Powell and Francis Douglas ruled that to "overcome the present situation, the President appoint a distinguished person, independent of the parties to this litigation, to advise on the dissolution of Parliament and direct the issuance of writ of electns."

"This will enable Fiji to be restored to democratic rule in accordance with the Fiji Constitution," the judges said.

Military-appointed Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum said outside the court the government would not be giving up power immediately because doing so would leave a dangerous vacuum. He signaled the government would appeal the decision.

Thursday's decision overturned last October's High Court ruling that Iloilo acted legally when he authorized a transition of power to Bainimarama.

The appellate court upheld Qarase's challenge that the transfer of power to Bainimarama was illegal and had breached the Constitution.

Earlier Thursday, Bainimarama excluded four political parties, including Qarase's Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua Party, from talks about restoring democracy.

Fiji's tourism and sugar-export dependent economy has plunged since the coup, sending more of the nation's 800,000 population into poverty.