Almost eight years after assuming power in Fiji, Voreque Bainimarama has fulfilled his own government decree regarding the separation of military and state. On 5 March, Bainimarama stepped down as Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces. He remains in power, but that power is to all intents and appearances no longer mediated by the barrel of a gun.
And so, with state power extricated from military control, Fiji edges closer to a return to democracy.