A political party spokesperson in Fiji says the expulsion of Australian and New Zealand diplomats is a tactic to distract people from the problems facing the country.
Fiji's interim government expelled the Australian and New Zealand heads of mission in Suva this week, saying the countries were trying to undermine Fiji's judiciary with their travel sanctions.
But Pramod Rae, the general secretary of the National Federation Party, says there was little provocation for the expulsions.
"It just seems that the regime in Fiji wants to sensationalise things in order to draw attention away from itself and its own failings. You see the Fiji regime is besieged with its own incompetence in a lot of areas, we have a declining economy."
Pramod Rae says the regime is receiving incompetent advice from consultants who have returned to Fiji from abroad.
He says the detention of academic Brij Lal shows the regime is becoming more sensitive to any commentary on its behaviour.
