Fiji could still be back on the road to democracy after last year's anti-ethnic Indian coup, despite the reappointment yesterday of a prime minister whose military-backed government has been declared illegal.
Observers said the appointment of Mr Laisenia Qarase as interim prime minister was controversial, particularly as it allowed indigenous Fijians to retain political power. But they cautiously welcomed pledges of elections within six months and talk of a renewed commitment to a 1997 constitution that sought to safeguard the rights of Fiji's ethnic Indians, who make up 44 percent of the population. That constitution was one of the main targets of last year's coup by indigenous Fijian rebels.
"If the early election sticks, it's a major concession," said the constitution's co-author Mr Brij Lal, a history professor at Australian National University. "But it could all be a charade," he commented.
The key to Fiji's future as a constitutional democracy, and to a revival of its crippled economy, will be whether a commission set up to review the 1997 constitution continues its work, and whether a timetable for elections holds firm.
The latest political moves will be a test for Fiji's biggest donor, Australia, which has suggested it might lift political and economic sanctions if it could be sure elections would be held, as promised. But they may also mark the end of political influence for Fiji's first ethnic Indian prime minister, Mr Mahendra Chaudhry, who was overthrown in last year's coup.