Not your father's military coup

Last week, there was a military coup in the Pacific island nation of Fiji. It was the third putsch there in 20 years.

(Radio New Zealand International and NZ's Stuff website both have good coverage of the events)

The new military ruler Frank Bainimarama is reportedly running ads in local newspapers to fill vacant positions in the country's Cabinet.

He removed a swathe of senior civil servants, including top police officers, saying he is weeding out corruption entrenched in the administration of ousted Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase.

"Applicants must be of outstanding character and without any criminal records," the advertisements noted.

I wonder if toppling a democratically-elected government counts against one's criminal record.

It's not exactly clear which newspapers the ads ran in since many suspended publication rather than accept military censorship.