Wellington - Fijian President Ratu Josefa Iloilo, whose military government has been declared illegal by the Court of Appeal, revoked the constitution on Friday and sacked the country's judges, according to reports from the capital Suva. He decreed that fresh elections will not be held for five years.

In an address to the nation, Iloilo appointed himself head of state and said he would appoint a new judiciary and a new interim government to rule until elections are held by September 2014, the independent website Fijilive reported.

Three judges of the Court of Appeal ruled Thursday that the government established by military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama after a bloodless coup in December 2006 was unlawfully appointed, and the president should appoint an independent caretaker prime minister to dissolve Parliament and call a general election.

Iloilo said a new interim government would need five years to implement reforms required for "true democratic and parliamentary elections", the Fiji Times newspaper reported on its website.

He assured the country that he had the full backing of the security forces and said he had directed Bainimarama, who remains head of the military "to take all reasonable steps" to ensure peace is maintained.

Bainimarama stepped down Thursday as prime minister, telling the nation, "The ruling of the Court of Appeal and its refusal to grant a stay pending appeal means, in practical terms, that we effectively do not have a prime minister or any ministers of the state.

"In other words we do not have a government in place."

Bainimarama has refused calls by New Zealand, Australia, the European Union, the United States and the Pacific Islands Forum to restore democracy by holding elections this year.

The Court of Appeal ruling overturned a decision by the High Court that held that Bainimarama's regime, which ousted the elected government headed by Laisenia Qarase, was legitimate.

But the panel rejected a call by attorneys for Qarase to reinstate him pending new elections, given the length of time since his removal.

Bainimarama, who accused Qarase's government of being corrupt and biased in favour of the indigenous Fijian majority against the ethnic Indian minority, has refused to go to the polls until a new one-man, one-vote electoral system is in place.

He said the existing system was to blame for the four coups and army mutiny that have devastated Fiji's fragile economy since 1987 and divided the South Pacific nation, which has a population of 837,270, according to a 2007 census. (dpa)