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Frank Bainimarama - Source: ONE News -
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New Zealanders thinking of going to Fiji are being advised to keep a low profile.
Suva remains relatively calm, although some guns have been visible on the streets after the president annulled the 1997 constitution following a court ruling which declared Frank Bainimarama's 2006 coup illegal.
The commodore was reappointed to the Prime Minister's office on Saturday by President Ratu Josefa Iloilo at Government House in Suva. Iloilo also sacked the judges who made the court ruling on Thursday, reversing an earlier decision that the military-backed government was legal.
Bainimarama has imposed a 30-day state of emergency, which allows for restrictions on political activity, curfews and curbs on media reporting.
New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister says the developments will only delay the help Fiji desperately needs. Murray McCully says history has seen many dictators appoint themselves to powerful jobs, scrap constitutions, dismiss judges and curb the media.
He says the end results of situations like this tend to be tragic.
But trade sanctions against Fiji are off the agenda. McCully says the latest events drama will only harm the ordinary people of Fiji and alienate the international community.
He says New Zealand's government has to balance its desire to see democracy return to Fiji with the every day needs of its people.
But while our government has ruled out trade sanctions, Australia says that option remains on the table. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has issued a strong condemnation of Bainimarama's return to the Prime Minister's office in Suva and says sanctions are possible unless steps are taken towards returning Fiji to democracy.
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