23 Dec 2010

Fiji regime restates GCC politics ban

8:07 am on 23 December 2010

Fiji's interim government says it is committed to removing politics from the Great Council of Chiefs.

The permanent secretary to the Prime Minister's Office, Colonel Pio Tikoduadua, has told FBC News that the government wants chiefs, not politicians, to sit in any chiefs meeting.

This comes after the convening of the Great Council of Chiefs was discussed by the interim Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, and the Tui Cakau Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu.

The GCC was suspended following the 2006 military coup after it refused to make Commodore Bainimarama the president.

Last year, the regime abolished the constitution, according to which the GCC was the body appointing the head of state.