Fiji coup deadline passes without incident

Posted at 8:59am on 04 Dec 2006 Local NZ time - A second deadline for a threatened military coup, at 4am New Zealand time, has passed without incident.

Commodore Frank Bainimarama has repeatedly said he will remove the government unless it meets his demands, including dropping contentious legislation.

The military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, says he will install an interim administration to run the country because the government's time is up. He says the transition will be peaceful.

However, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase says he has already made enough concessions to avoid a military takeover.

Fiji's opposition leader, Mick Beddoes, told Morning Report only dialogue, not weapons will solve the country's crisis. He says the Commodore needs to tell the prime minister what part of the concessions he is still unhappy with.

Public service answers to govt

Meanwhile, Fiji's Public Service Commission says it is still taking its orders from the civilian government.

Some 20,000 public servants are expected to show up for work today despite the threat of a coup.

The commission's chair, Stuart Huggett, says business will continue as usual unless it is physically impossible for that to happen. Mr Huggett says he does not anticipate that the commission will be accepting orders from the military any time soon.