Laisenia Qarase
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Laisenia Qarase (born February 4, 1941) is the Prime Minister of Fiji. A banker by profession, Qarase first managed the Fiji Development Bank, then in 1998 became head of the Fiji Merchant Bank. In 1999 he became a Senator, and an opposition leader to Chaudhry. Qarase was appointed Prime Minister on July 4 2000, after the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry was quashed by the military.
Qarase has remained Prime Minister since, except for a period of two days (14-16 March 2001), when he temporarily vacated the office to meet a constitutional technicality; the Supreme Court of Fiji had ruled that his government was unconstitutional and that Mahendra Chaudhry remained the rightful Prime Minister. In a series of moves that legal experts have considered to be of doubtful constitutionality, Qarase resigned on March 14, in favour of Ratu Tevita Momoedonu (who had been a Minister in the Chaudhry Cabinet, so that Momoedonu could advise President Josefa Iloilo to dissolve the Parliament and call an early general election. As soon as this technicality had been attended to, Qarase resumed the Prime Ministership. He was subsequently confirmed in office when he led his newly formed United Fiji Party to victory in the election held to restore democracy in 2001.
As Prime Minister, Qarase has proved popular with business leaders, who appreciate his steps to liberalize the economy and boost tourism, the main source of foreign exchange. He faces challenges on numerous fronts, however. Less than one percent of the Indo-Fijian population voted for his party in 2001, with a further 22 percent voting for the National Federation Party, which was loosely allied to his party. Recent byelections and local government elections show that his support in the Indo-Fijian community has increased, but only marginally. Almost 75 percent of Indo-Fijian voters supported Chaudhry's Fiji Labour Party, which Qarase has refused to include in his Cabinet, despite its winning of 27 seats, more than three times the number stipulated by the Constitution for representation in a multi-party cabinet. On 18 July 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that the exclusion of the Labour Party was in breach of the Constitution, and demanded that the situation be rectified. Subsequent appeals, counter-appeals, and negotiations have stalled the appointment of Labour Party ministers, however. The Supreme Court is due to rule in June 2004 on how many Cabinet posts the Labour Party is entitled to. Qarase recently said that he will respect the ruling and implement it.
Another challenge for Qarase is the prosecution of the persons responsible for their part in the 2000 coup. Several members of his government have been accused of complicity in it, and Qarase relies on them for his parliamentary majority. Several of these have close ties to the military and police forces, and to move against them could be unsafe. Qarase has tried to avoid dealing with the matter by leaving it entirely up to the police. Opponents charge that this merely allows the police - several of whose past senior officers were themselves implicated in the coup - to be selective in their prosecutions. As of March 2004, the situation is far from resolved.
A native of the Lau Islands in the eastern part of Fiji, Qarase has Fijian, Tongan, and Jewish ancestors. He freely admits that his Jewish heritage, coupled with his strong Christian faith, is a factor in his deep sympathy for Israel. On his orders, all United Nations votes involving Israel must be referred to him personally for approval.