Rabuka confirmed as Fiji prime minister after close election
Melbourne (AP): Sitiveni Rabuka was confirmed as Fiji's next prime minister on Saturday more than two decades after the former military commander first held the office in a term lasting nearly seven years.
The 74-year-old won the nomination by one vote over incumbent Frank Bainimarama at a sitting of the Fijian Parliament in Suva.
Rabuka, the head of the People's Alliance Party, was elevated to the position after forming a majority coalition with two other parties following last week's close and contentious election.
He will be officially sworn in later Saturday at Government House.
The tripartite coalition had announced on Tuesday its intention to form a government with a combined 29 seats compared to the 26 held by Bainimarama's Fiji First Party.
The People's Alliance Party and affiliated National Federation Party shared 26 seats but were able to form an alliance with the Social Democrat Liberal Party to break the deadlock.
But Bainimarama, who had served as Fiji's prime minister for almost 16 years, and Fiji First refused to concede the election results in the days following the polls.
A secret ballot of lawmakers on Saturday chose Rabuka 28-27.
The result indicated that one member of the new ruling coalition was against the change in prime minister.
The same ballot split occurred in voting for the roles of house speaker and deputy speaker earlier during a Christmas Eve parliamentary session lasting three hours.
It has been a tense week in Fiji, a Pacific nation where democracy remains fragile.
On Thursday, army and navy personnel were reportedly called in to protect minority groups over threats against them following the election.
There have been four military coups in Fiji over the past 35 years, and both Rabuka and Bainimarama have held lead roles in previous moves to oust former Fijian leaders.
Rabuka, who was also prime minister between 1992 and 1999, instigated two coups in 1987.
Bainimarama instigated a coup in 2006 that led to the removal of Laisenia Quarase as prime minister, a role he then assumed until the elevation of Rabuka on Saturday.
Earlier in the sitting, Naiqama Lalabalavu was appointed the new speaker of the house after a secret ballot saw him receive one vote more than Fiji First candidate Epeli Nailatikau, who served as president of Fiji from 2009 to 2015.
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Bangladesh's ousted PM Sheikh Hasina condemns arrest of Hindu spiritual leader, demands his release
Dhaka, Nov 28: Deposed prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina on Thursday condemned the arrest of Hindu spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das and said the leader must be released immediately.
Das who was taken into custody earlier this week on sedition charges.
"A top leader of the Sanatan religious community has been unjustly arrested, he must be released immediately," Hasina said in a statement.
"A temple has been burnt in Chittagong. Previously, mosques, shrines, churches, monasteries and homes of the Ahmadiyya community were attacked, vandalised and looted and set on fire. Religious freedom and security of life and property of people of all communities should be ensured," the former prime minister said in the statement posted on Awami League's X account.
Hasina fled to India on August 5 following widespread protests against her Awami League-led government over a controversial job quota system. Three days later, Yunus, a Nobel laureate, took over as the Chief Adviser of the interim government.
Hindu minority groups have been frequently reporting atrocities against their community members in different parts of Bangladesh, even after Yunus took charge.
There are also reports of the rise of extremist groups like Jamaat-e-Islami and similar ideological extremist wings.
