19. Muanikau Accord
Speight of Violence 29
As the drama dragged on, attention switched to 'Iloilo's house', the official residency of the vice-president, a little way uphill from Parliament. Its last occupant had been Ratu Josefa Iloilo, and before him Prime Minister Rabuka. Chaudhry had refused to live there. It was notable for its unattractive concrete semi-modern design complete with two bullet holes from Speight's roadblock drama. Talks between the military and Speight's people got underway in the house without Speight, who was too frightened to leave Parliament again. Talks took longer than they needed to and got lost many times because there was no strong mediator or negotiator, no solid middleman. Everybody inside Iloilo's house was pushing a line and with no urgency to resolve matters. All pretext of a hostage situation, terrorism or international response was lost as the two men and their representatives haggled over portfolios. It was hard to know if he was serious, but Speight said he wanted to be prime minister: 'I would be honoured to serve my country.'
Tarakinikini confirmed they were talking about a government and membership of a constitutional review group. Speight's cause had to be given a 'fair hearing'.
Right from the beginning of the crisis, Tarakinikini's loyalties were open to question. At a press conference he expounded on the multiracial constitution, saying that 10 of the 14 provinces had been against it. The GCC adopted it unanimously. While saying that the military could not surrender the country to Speight, Tarakinikini dug Fiji a little further into its hole: 'They have made their case, they have stood up for indigenous Fijian aspirations, and we sympathise with that, but beyond that the country's path forward must be charted that will bring peace, stability and economic wellbeing to our people. We cannot surrender that. We sympathise with the cause of indigenous Fijians. We will make sure that all their aspirations and fears will be covered in a new constitution. Beyond that we cannot, for the sake of our God, ignore all the people in our country.'
