The army agreed today to return to the barracks immediately, but only as part of a formula intended to curtail the political rights of ethnic Indians, the nation's largest ethnic group.
The leader of last week's coup, Lieut. Col. Sitiveni Rabuka, emerged from a meeting of the Great Council of Chiefs to announce the accord, which formally ends the brief military government.
Colonel Rabuka, wearing a traditional Fijian sulu, or skirt, was wildly cheered by thousands of indigenous Fijians who had waited outside through three days of sun and rain for an agreement to be reached.
Most ethnic Fijians and ethnic Indians seemed to assume that the agreement would result in constitutional amendments mandating that the prime minister be an indigenous Fijian and that a large majority of seats in Parliament be held by Fijians.
''I believe in the supremacy of Fijian interests in Fiji,'' Finau Tabakaucoro, a historian and member of the Great Council of Chiefs, said in an interview. ''If that makes other people second-class citizens, then - well, I don't have to say it.'' Called 'Reverse Apartheid'Continue reading the main story
Indigenous Fijians make up almost 47 percent of the population. They are slightly outnumbered by ethnic Indians, descendents of laborers brought by Britain to this Pacific island group more than 60 years ago.
''This is reverse apartheid,'' Sir Vijay Singh, a prominent Indian businessman and political leader, said after the agreement today. While apartheid deprives South African blacks of political rights, he said, Fijian blacks are seeking political domination over Indians.
It remained unclear, however, just what had been agreed upon in the complex negotiations involving the army, the Governor General and the Great Council of Chiefs. The Governor General, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, is the representative in Fiji of Queen Elizabeth II, the nominal head of state in this former British colony. The Great Council is a 100-member panel of hereditary and appointed chiefs with great influence among ethnic Fijians.
The negotiations appeared to exclude entirely both Indians and the Government of Timoci Bavadra, who was elected Prime Minister last month. He was kidnapped by the army when troops stormed Parliament May 14. He was released a few days ago but is in hiding for fear of being arrested again.
The central feature of the compromise was the appointment by Ratu Sir Penaia of a 19-member council to assist him until new elections can be held. The Governor General, a high chief himself, seems to be generally acknowledged to be Fiji's chief executive for the moment.
What is happening in Fiji remains a mystery to almost everyone. At least two contrasting scenarios are plausible:
* Colonel Rabuka has in effect succeeded in his coup. He remains in charge of security forces and will supervise the preparation of a new constitution sharply reducing the political role that ethnic Indians can play.
* Colonel Rabuka has in effect failed in his coup. A committee will suggest changes in the Constitution, but these will be vetoed by Parliament. Dr. Bavadra will be re-elected later this year, and Colonel Rabuka will then have to look for a job in the private sector. Facts Grow Murky
About eight council members will serve on a special constitutional panel, but beyond that the facts grow very murky.
According to the army, this panel will draft a new constitution that reduces the political role of Indians. That constitution, according to an army spokesman, Lieut. Eroni Volavola, will automatically take effect.
But the Governor General, in a radio broadcast tonight, said the committee would only recommend changes in the Constitution.
If the panel merely recommends constitutional changes, they might not matter much. Amending the Constitution now requires a two-thirds vote in Parliament, and the Indians in Parliament would presumably not vote for restricting their own political rights.