Fiji vote 'rigged' says former PM

Political supporters wait for results to be released

Fiji's deposed Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, has alleged there was widespread vote-rigging in his country's historic general election.

And Mr Chaudhry has said electoral fraud could cost his Fiji Labour Party the chance of forming the next government.

The Fiji Labour Party suspects a massive electoral fraud has been perpetrated on the voters of Fiji

Deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry

But international observer teams from the United Nations, the British Commonwealth and the European Union all said the election - the first since Mr Chaudhry was toppled in a nationalist coup last May - was free and fair.

With only a handful of seats still to be declared, Mr Chaudhry's party is neck and neck with its main nationalist rival, the SDL.

Neither party can now achieve an absolute majority in the new 71-member parliament.

Political deals

The leader of the SDL, the caretaker Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, has denied there was vote-rigging and has challenged Mr Chaudhry to prove his claims.

Mahendra Chaudhry was toppled in a coup last year

He said he was more confident than ever of forming a new coalition administration.

If he does so, our correspondent in Fiji says there will almost certainly be attempts made to enhance the political and economic rights of native Fijians at the expense of ethnic Indians, who were brought to Fiji by the British more than 100 years ago to work on colonial sugar plantations, and now control much of the economy.

'Massive fraud'

The SDL would have to seek the support of the ultra-nationalist Conservative Alliance. Our correspondent sats one of its conditions for joining a new administration could well be an amnesty for George Speight, the man who led last year's coup.

Election monitors said the vote was fair

Mr Speight was elected on Wednesday to the seat of Tailevu North, but remains on a prison island where he is awaiting a trial for treason.

Meanwhile lawyers for the Labour party are preparing to take Mr Chaudhry's complaints to the high court.

They concern the alleged deliberate invalidation of ballot papers supporting Labour candidates by political opponents planted at polling stations.

Mr Chaudhry has also claimed hundreds of votes were smuggled into counting centres by the SDL.

"The Fiji Labour Party suspects a massive electoral fraud has been perpetrated on the voters of Fiji," he told reporters. "If we don't kill this in the bud, there will be no democracy in Fiji."