Fiji interim government plan offered

Fiji's opposition leader said yesterday he has offered to form an interim government that would grant immunity to prosecution to participants in the recent military coup that has set the country's economy reeling.

The offer from opposition leader Mick Beddoes is the first significant sign that armed forces chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama's plans for returning the country to democracy after his coup could succeed.

But Beddoes' plan, revealed in an interview in the Fiji Times newspaper yesterday, depends on getting deposed prime minister Laisenia Qarase to resign -- something he steadfastly refused to do in the monthslong buildup to his ouster.

Beddoes said he had begun talks with the military about setting up a government of "national unity" that would include members of the former government and the opposition.

Under the plan, Qarase would resign and a unity Cabinet would be sworn in that would then enter into "a comprehensive agreement with the military" that included "amnesty and immunity provisions" for coup participants, Beddoes was quoted as saying.

Beddoes said his plan was based on a pragmatic premise that trying to restore Qarase's government would cause more instability than accepting the military takeover and moving on.