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Labour Party pulls out of Fiji government

Suva (Fiji): Three Fiji Labour Party Cabinet Ministers, including its Indian-origin leader Mahendra Chaudhry, are pulling out of the military-led government as international pressure mounts for a return to democracy in the South Pacific nation, the party said on Sunday.

Finance Minister Chaudhry said he would resign on Monday along with Labour Minister Lekh Ram Vayeshnoi and Tourism and Communications Minister Tom Ricketts. Mr. Chaudhry said the decision “effectively ends” Labour’s participation in the government, set up shortly after a December 2006 military coup by Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

Mr. Chaudhry, a former Premier who was ousted in a 2000 coup, stressed the resignations were a collective decision of his party. He said he had already hinted to Cmdr. Bainimarama his party would leave the government to strengthen its machinery for planned elections.

“That is exactly what we are doing and that is the reason for our exit,” said Mr. Chaudhry. Last month, Cmdr. Bainimarama went back on a promise to hold polls by March 2009, saying he needed time to reform the political system. — AP

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