SUVA, Fiji — Fiji’s new military ruler declared a state of emergency yesterday and warned he was prepared to use quick and decisive force to quell any dissent.The day after seizing power in Fiji’s fourth coup in 19 years, Commodore Frank Bainimarama used self-appointed powers to swear in a caretaker prime minister, remove the police chief who had defied his orders and send armed troops into Parliament to shut it down.

Deposed Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase remained defiant but subdued, agreeing to a military demand that he leave the capital to avoid becoming a rallying point for Bainimarama opponents, but insisting he was still the country’s only legal ruler. The central bank tightened capital controls and put a cap on banks’ commercial loans, saying the “strong measures” were necessary to protect foreign exchange reserves.

The capital, Suva, remained generally quiet Wednesday, a day after Bainimarama declared he had seized power to end a long impasse with Qarase over bills offering pardons to conspirators in a 2000 coup and handing lucrative coastal land ownership to the indigenous Fijian majority.

Bainimarama swore in military medic Dr. Jona Senilagakali as interim prime minister in a ceremony at Suva’s main military barracks. In an address afterward broadcast nationally, Bainimarama said he had declared a state of emergency because intelligence indicated some people were planning civil disruption.

“For those who do not agree with what we are doing, we respect your opinion, but do not interfere with the process that is currently under way,” Bainimarama said. “There is no point in debating the legality or otherwise of our actions. Qarase and his cronies are not coming back.”

He said the military wanted a peaceful transition to an interim administration and eventually elections that would restore democracy. “But should we be forced to use force, let me state that we will do so very quickly,” he said.

Bainimarama accused Qarase of inciting people to rise against the military by declaring his takeover illegal, and said opposition from other government officials was threatening his plan for a safe transition.

“I am still the legal prime minister of the country,” Qarase told the Legend radio network yesterday from his home village on the outlying Lau group of islands. “There is no way the interim prime minister is going to be a legal prime minister, absolutely no way.”

The commander said Police Commissioner Moses Driver had been replaced. Military spokesman Maj. Neumi Leweni told The Associated Press later that five other senior bureaucrats, including the solicitor-general and public service commissioner, had been fired.

Driver earlier told his officers to disregard any orders from the military regime, whose “treasonous” actions were illegal. “The Fiji police will not now, or ever, have any part of it,” he said.

Armed troops entered Parliament and demanded senators end a session of budget deliberations that resumed despite Bainimarama’s ouster of the government on Tuesday. The commander said yesterday he had formally dissolved Parliament. They also broke up a meeting of senior bureaucrats who gathered to discuss the situation instead of following Bainimarama’s instructions to go to work as normal.

Bainimarama said his plan for the appointment of a full interim government was on hold because Fiji’s powerful council of tribal chiefs had canceled a meeting that he had hoped would endorse a caretaker government — giving his takeover a huge boost among the dominant indigenous Fijians population.

The military commission would rule along with Senilagakali until a caretaker Cabinet could be found. He said the posts would be advertised.

The Bank of Fiji said in a statement that foreign exchange transaction limits had been reduced and approval requirements tightened. It introduced credit ceilings on individual banks to lock commercial loans to the private sector at pre-coup limits, and hiked interest rates on a range of loan facilities for banks.

“The measures will be reviewed regularly and it is hoped that some relaxation will be possible once the political situation normalizes and financial pressures abate,” the bank said.