Qarase may head coalition Govt. in Fiji

By Amit Baruah

SUVA, SEPT. 6. The caretaker Prime Minister, Mr. Laisenia Qarase, is in talks with Mr. George Speight's Conservative Alliance to form a coalition Government as his Soqosoqo Duavata Ni Lewenivanua (SDL) won 27 seats - the same as Mr. Mahendra Chaudhry's Fiji Labour Party (FLP) as five seats remained to be counted.

``I am sure we will get the numbers,'' Mr. Qarase said as Mr. Chaudhry alleged today that there had been ``vote- rigging'' during the elections. This is the first time than the Labour Party has made this charge publicly during the elections.

Mr. Chaudhry called on the Commonwealth and United Nations Observer missions to withhold ``certifying the 2001 general elections free and fair'' until questions raised were investigated and explained.

As Mr. Qarase negotiates with Mr. George Speight's party, which has won six of the 65 seats whose results were known till late this evening, the issue of an amnesty for Mr. Speight and the others involved in the May 2000 ouster of the Chaudhry Government will come to the fore. The caretaker Prime Minister said the case against Mr. Speight was a legal process and only the President had the right to pardon a person - currently Mr. Speight and his colleagues are facing treason and other lesser charges - and remain in prison.

Mr. Qarase also made it clear that the SDL would stick to its promise of amending the 1997 consensus Constitution which had even passed muster with the country's powerful Great Council of Chiefs.

In response to a question, whether he was for reserving the job of Prime Minister for an ethnic Fijian, Mr. Qarase refused to give a direct answer at a press conference this evening. Asked whether he felt that voters in Fiji had cast their ballot along racial lines during the current elections, Mr. Qarase said: ``We have always voted on racist lines.''

About the participation of Mr. George Speight's colleagues in Government, the caretaker Prime Minister said ``terrorists'' had formed part of the administration in Northern Ireland and Palestine, but the international community only wanted to single out Fiji.

At his press conference today, Mr. Chaudhry alleged that there had been rigging in some constituencies. He said his party was contemplating whether or not to take the issue before the High Court for redress.

Referring to the high number of invalid votes in some constituencies, Mr. Chaudhry alleged that these ballot papers had been ticked by the ``same'' hand. ``It is clear that polling clerks were planted by the interim Prime Minister, Mr. Laisenia Qarase's SDL Party at polling stations to invalidate FLP votes.''

``A study of invalid votes reveal a clear pattern. They are very high in constituencies where a particular party was uncertain of winning. The strategy was to invalidate FLP votes by placing a tick below the line in ballot papers of illiterate voters seeking assistance from polling clerks to vote,'' he alleged.

During his remarks, Mr. Chaudhry, who seems to have lost the battle to take power through the ballot box after being deposed last year, made lukewarm remarks about the possibility of forming a Government.

Other Labour Party sources told this correspondent that the main question before the group was whether to be part of a Qarase-led Government or sit in Opposition. There could be some public posturing about ``staking'' a claim to form the Government, but that appears to be a proforma exercise.

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