The Nationalist rebels at the centre of Fiji's two-month-old political crisis were celebrating yesterday after successfully blocking the formation of a new government from which they had been largely excluded.
The rebels, who overthrew the Pacific nation's elected government on May 19th, forced the swearing-in of a new administration to be postponed indefinitely after warning that the country was "verging on civil war".
The President, Mr Josefa Iloilo, was to have sworn in 20 new ministers and 12 assistant ministers including the acting Prime Minister, Mr Laisenia Qarase, at a ceremony at 11 a.m. yesterday (midnight yesterday, Irish time).
But after the rebel leader, Mr George Speight, warned of further unrest if the ceremony went ahead, Mr Iloilo failed to show up, leaving Mr Qarase to announce that the president was "indisposed", and that the formation of a new administration was being put off to an unspecified date.
Shortly afterwards, Mr Speight and his supporters left parliament, which they had occupied since May 19th. They set up a new base at a school on the outskirts of Suva, where celebrations were in full swing yesterday evening.
Mr Qarase's cabinet list, first announced on Tuesday, prompt ed a furious reaction from Mr Speight, who had not been consulted about a line-up which accorded only a handful of minor posts to his supporters. His spokesman, Mr Joe Nata, warned before yesterday's ceremony was due to take place that there would be trouble if the new government was appointed.