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SUVA, Fiji (AP) - Fiji's ailing 85-year-old president was re-elected Wednesday, hours after he rejected calls by some of the nation's influential tribal chiefs to retire.
President Ratu Josefa Iloilo has been Fiji's president since 2001. His re-election came just days after he returned from Australia after having medical treatment. He reportedly suffers from heart disease and diabetes.
On Tuesday, chiefs representing western Fiji presented Iloilo with a tabua — a carved sperm whale tooth that in Fijian custom has great significance when making requests — and asked him to retire because of old age and failing health.
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