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A strange twist of destiny: Chaudhry

P. S. Suryanarayana

Joins interim Cabinet as Finance Minister

— PHOTO: AFP

Mahendra Chaudhry

SINGAPORE: Mahendra Pal Chaudhry, widely regarded as a leading representative of Fiji"s large ethnic Indian minority, threw his political lot with the coup master and military commander, Frank Bainimarama, by joining his interim Cabinet as the Finance Minister in Suva, the Fijian capital, on Tuesday.

Mr. Chaudhry was the Prime Minister when he was taken hostage by a "civilian coup" leader, George Speight, in May 2000. Mr. Chaudhry was then dispossessed of his post in the subsequent political chain reactions. Commodore Bainimarama himself played a central role at that time to "defuse" the crisis.

Staging a coup last December, Commodore Bainimarama said he would seek to mend the "racial divide" between the majority-Melanesians and the Indian community.

His invitation to Mr. Chaudhry for the Cabinet post is a sequel to this pledge.

A key aspect of the "mandate" of this interim Cabinet is to restore democracy through a general election, at an unspecified time, in a "stable and conducive" political and economic situation

After being sworn in as the Interim Minister for Finance, National Planning, Public Enterprise, and Sugar Reforms, Mr. Chaudhry described the event as "a strange twist of destiny in my case." Indicating that he was not referring to the circumstances in which he earlier ceased to be the Prime Minister, Mr. Chaudhry said: "Almost 20 years ago, the Bavadra Government, in which I was the Finance Minister, was deposed by Colonel Rabuka. [Now] I am being reinstated in the same position by the Republic of Fiji Military Forces led by Cmdr. Bainimarama."

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