Dr Brij Lal, an Indo-Fijian academic with the Australia National University and one of the architects of Fiji's constitution, says he thinks the military regime established on Tuesday, won't last more than a week.
He says none of the key sectors of Fiji society back the Commodore's move.
"The Great Council of Chiefs has come out today, the Methodist Church, the provincial councils are also beginning to think about this. I think really within a week I expect some sort of resolution one way or the other, and I suspect that within a week the army will realise that it does not have the kind of popular support that it had for example in 1987."
Similar sentiments have been expressed by the Fiji police commissioner, Australian Andrew Hughes.
Mr Hughes, who is currently in Australia, says he thinks the coup may spark a popular uprising that he hopes would be non-violent.
He told Australian TV that Commodore Bainimarama doesn't have the support of the government, the president, the police, the churches, or the chiefs.
