At 10am, May 14th, 1987, the first coup was staged in Fiji led by the third-ranked military officer in the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, Sitiveni Rabuka.
This changed Fiji forever and as we mark 34 years of that event today, Professor Tupeni Baba who was part of the then Doctor Timoci Bavadra led government said it is unfortunate that the 1987 coup occurred as it also started off the culture of coups.
He says taking the government out with force and dividing the races with a barrel of the gun will never bring anything good.
Professor Baba says he remembers that day in 1987 when Rabuka entered parliament.
He says he had also challenged Rabuka on that day, but listened to the late Doctor Bavadra.
The leader of the two coups in 1987, Sitiveni Rabuka whose immunity provisions for those acts have also been included in the 2013 constitution said in an earlier interview with fijivillage that he has come to realize that he cannot justify what happened on May 14th, 1987.
Rabuka had also made claims in his book, Rabuka Of Fiji that he was allegedly influenced by former politicians.
He was taken to court for this.
