Fiji coup leader's poll hopes dashed

It's back to prison for Fiji's coup leader George Speight

SUVA, Fiji -- Fiji's High Court has overturned a magistrate's decision that would have allowed political coup leader George Speight to contest a seat in the country's general election next month.

Justice Peter Surman ruled Friday that Magistrate Salesi Temo did not have the jurisdiction to allow Speight and alleged fellow coup plotter Ratu Timoci Silatolu to lodge nomination forms as political candidates.

On Thursday Speight, surrounded by 14 police and prison officers, lodged his nomination papers at the Commissioner Central's office, having been granted the right to do so by Temo.

The Director of Public Prosecutions immediately appealed Temo's decision, and with the High Court finding in the DPP's favor, Speight and Ratu Timoci's nominations are now invalid.

Speight, who led armed gunmen into parliament in May 2000 and took many Fijian cabinet ministers hostage, is currently imprisoned facing treason charges for his actions.

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Treason carries the death penalty, but it has never been carried out in this racially-divided South Pacific nation.

Speight, who claims his coup was an attempt to restore indigenous Fijian rights, still enjoys wide support from some sections of the Fijian populace.

With more than 20 parties registered for the poll which begins on August 25, hopes the election will bring political stability to Fiji seem unfounded.

Mahendra Chaudhry, who was prime minister at the time of Speight's coup, will again lead his mostly ethnic Indian Labour Party.

But he faces a challenge from caretaker Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, an indigenous Fijian who was installed by the military after the coup.

Chaudhry this week said he was confident of victory. He won a landslide victory in 1999, winning not only ethnic-Indian seats but indigenous Fijian and mixed race seats, stunning Fiji's traditional chiefly rulers.

Chaudhry led a multi-racial government, but his autocratic style quickly fuelled indigenous resentment which was fomented by Speight and others who argued native Fijians were losing control of their nation to ethnic Indians.

The descendants of Indian indentured labourers make up about 44 percent of the 800,000 population and dominate local business, but their economic clout has not been matched by political power.

Indigenous Fijians have resisted Indo-Fijian attempts to strengthen their political influence.

Fiji has been rocked by three racially-bent coups since 1987, all against ethnic Indian political power.

Reuters contributed to this report.