Fiji PM accused of vote-buying

Laisenia Qarase denies any wrongdoing

By Phil Mercer Regional correspondent in Sydney

Fiji's nationalist Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase is facing an investigation by the police over allegations of vote-buying in last year's general election.

A formal complaint has been made by the country's elections supervisor, who says the Qarase government could be dismissed if the claims are substantiated.

The prime minister has denied the allegations and has said his administration is prepared to defend itself in court.

Mr Qarase's Fijian People's Party needed all the votes it could muster during last September's historic election, the first since a nationalist coup two years ago.

Mr Chaudhry thinks he was cheated out of victory

It won 31 seats in the 71 member parliament. That was four more than its bitter rival the Fiji Labour Party, led by former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, who was ousted in the uprising of May 2000.

Fiji's Police Commissioner Isikia Savua has confirmed an investigation into alleged corruption has begun. It will examine if voters were bribed with millions of dollars of public money by the Qarase government.

Opposition politicians have no doubt the claims are genuine. One said "the true and corrupt colours of the government" were now coming out.

The prime minister has insisted his party has done nothing wrong and would vigorously defend itself.

This is the second time Mr Qarase has been accused of electoral tampering. During last year's campaign, the opposition leader Mahendra Chaudhry claimed widespread vote-rigging had destroyed his chances of winning.

At the time international observers said they had seen nothing to compromise the integrity of the election.