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Speight, Chaudhry win seats, face-off likely

Fiji's coup leader George Speight on Wednesday won a parliamentary seat in elections under the same democratic system and constitution that he so zealously attempted to overthrow in May 2000.

In Parliament, he may have a face-off with the man he ousted, former prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry, who easily won his Ba open seat.

In another development, interim Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, who leads the Soqoqoni Duavata ni Lewenivanua, also won his seat comfortably.

Qarase won the Lau communal seat with 92 per cent votes, the highest margin recorded in a constituency so far.

Chaudhry collected a total of 9,651 votes, while his competitor Ram Lagendra of the National Federation Party collected 5,181.

Speight, detained on an island prison just outside Suva on a charge of treason, won the Tailevu North Fijian provincial communal seat with 4,999 votes on second count.

But two of his associates, Ratu Timoci Silatolu and Ilisoni Ligairi, also detained with him lost the seats they had contested.

But the tussle for power is expected to be between the Chaudhry-led Fiji Labour Party and Qarase's SDL, with the former capturing 22 and SDL 14 of the 45 seats declared so far.

Other parties with seats in the bag are the Speight-backing Conservative Alliance with six after a strong showing in the north, and the United General Party with a lone seat won by popular businessman leader Mick Beddoes. The NFP has won one seat so far.

Confident of a win, meanwhile, Labour Party members are holding a meeting to discuss how to form a new government.

Qarase, the other frontrunner for the prime minister's post, too, is confident that he can form a government comprising a grand coalition of Fijian parties.

The SDL's 14 seats combined with the Conservative Alliance's seats gives it 20 seats, just two short of Labour. The Conservatives have promised to pardon Speight if they come to power.

The full outcome is expected to be out late on Thursday.

While the 1997 constitution was designed to bring the races together, the trend seen in the elections is the opposite, with voting on racial lines.

Moderate parties have more or less been left out in the cold.

One of the biggest upsets was Fijian Association Party leader Adi Kuini Speed's defeat despite her chiefly status. Speed was deputy prime minister in the deposed government. She was known for her moderate views and as a strong Chaudhry ally.

Indo-Asian News Service

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