Secretary-General Ban repeats call for the reinstatement of Fiji’s ‘legitimate authority’

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for the reinstatement of Fiji’s “legitimate authority,” following the announcement that the leader of last December’s coup d’état has become Prime Minister of the country.

“The Secretary-General has noted the recent changes in Fiji by which President Iloilo has been restored, and the leader of the military takeover, Commodore Bainimarama, has become Prime Minister,” his spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters in New York.

“The Secretary-General reiterates the previous call of the United Nations for the immediate reinstatement of the legitimate authority in Fiji and its return to constitutional rule and full democracy.”

After last month’s coup, which occurred on 5 December, the Security Council as well as former Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other UN officials condemned the action by Fiji’s military, and called for the peaceful restoration of the democratically elected government as soon as possible.