Qarase predicts poll victory in Fiji

SUVA - Fiji's caretaker prime minister Laisenia Qarase said Monday he was confident of forming the next government despite forecasts that ousted leader Mahendra Chaudhry would feature strongly in ongoing elections.

Election officials reported a pick-up in voter turnout on Monday after a slow start to the divided South Pacific nation's week-long poll Saturday.

The election was called after Chaudhry, Fiji's first ethnic Indian prime minister, was toppled in a racially inspired coup on May 19, 2000.

Qarase, appointed by the military after the coup, said he was confident his Fijian United Party would form an independent government without influence from the military if he won the election.

"When we return to government Mr. Chaudhry can rest assured that we will run the government ourselves," Qarase told Reuters.

"The caretaker government has never at any time been totally controlled by the military," he said.

Chaudhry was toppled by nationalist rebels in the name of indigenous Fijian rights.

Chaudhry and most of his multi-racial cabinet were held hostage for 56 days by armed rebels led by failed businessman George Speight. Speight is running for office from prison, where he is awaiting trial for treason.

Race is expected to be the most divisive issue of the election, with some indigenous Fijians worried Indian culture has become predominant in many parts of the country. Voting has so far been peaceful despite some fears of violence.

"We are pleased to reveal that the election has gone on trouble free and that we are working closely with the military on monitoring the situation," police superintendent Romanu Tikotikoca told a news conference.

Indians first arrived in Fiji in the late 1800s as indentured laborers to work the sugarcane fields. They now make up 44 percent of the population of 800,000 and dominate the sugar and tourism industries, mainstays of the economy.

Chaudhry won a landslide in 1999 and said feedback from the first day of polling Saturday showed strong support for his Fijian Labor Party.

Analysts expect another strong showing by Chaudhry, a former trade union leader whose power base is along the west coast sugar belt of the main island of Viti Levu.

Chaudhry has said Fijians would again accept an ethnic Indian leader, although Qarase has said Fiji would not be ready for another ethnic Indian prime minister for between 20 and 30 years.

Chaudhry told Reuters Sunday he doubted the events of last year would be repeated but warned that Fiji's battered economy and international reputation could only be restored by a genuinely democratic government free of outside influences.

Military chief Frank Bainimarama reiterated that the army was no longer in control and would accept the election outcome.

"We are not in control and we are part of the machinery of government and will support the government of the day," Bainimarama told Reuters.

Election officials said Monday they were bracing for a strong voter turnout after polling was suspended for a day of prayers Sunday in the deeply religious former British colony.

Around 500 police and a team of U.N observers are monitoring the voting across Fiji's 300 islands. Voting closes Saturday and a result is not expected before September 6.

- REUTERS

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