Ousted Fijian PM confident of victory

SUVA, Fiji -- Fiji's ousted prime minister is confident he will win his job back in a general election this week, just one year after being toppled in a coup.

Mahendra Chaudhry, the south Pacific island nation's first ethnic Indian prime minister, told Reuters he was confident his Labor Party would win, as the only party addressing the 'bread and butter issues' confronting Fiji.

Chaudhry said Fiji had become a 'laughing stock' in the past 15 months since insurgents stormed parliament on taking him and his multi-ethnic party hostage.

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They were released 56 days later to find the military had declared martial law and handpicked its own government, dominated by indigenous Fijians.

The first day of polling on Saturday showed Chaudhry's coalition Labor Party had attracted large numbers of early voters, Chaudhry said in an interview in his constituency of Ba in the western district of the main island Viti Levu.

Chaudhry concedes a record 18 political parties contesting the election has helped splinter the opposition. His Labor Party is positioned as a leading contender to win more seats than any other party.

"We are telling the people we must restore genuine democracy," said Chaudhry.

"There is no use having an election then not respecting the mandate of the voters ... It is important to restore our dignity, credibility and self respect as a nation," he said, sipping coconut milk from the shell.

On Saturday, indigenous Fijians and ethnic Indians stood in separate lines at many polling booths Saturday on the first day of weeklong elections aimed at restoring democracy to the racially divided nation.

Lines were divided by race because of a voting system that reserves some spots in the 71-seat Parliament for members of particular ethnic groups. But it underlined the racial gulf Fiji must bridge if it is to return to stability.

Voters in some parts of the country waited up to three hours to cast their ballots, a delay which elections officials and international observers reported was the only serious glitch. Police were out in force as security was tightened for the polling.

Extra staff were rushed to some polling stations to shorten lines, deputy election supervisor Kameli Koto told The Associated Press.

Treason charges

Businessman George Speight, who led last year's coup, is also standing as a candidate for a nationalist Fijian party, vowing to return power to indigenous Fijians.

Despite being in custody on an island off Suva on charges of treason, Speight has the right to run so long as he is not convicted of a serious crime. His trial is expected to start early next year.

The interim government currently in power was installed by the military during negotiations with Speight while he was holding the hostages.

Fiji's military-installed prime minister, Laisenia Qarase, said it was "one of the most important elections in the country since independence" in 1970.

"It's not the last chance" for democracy in Fiji, he said. "Democracy is here and it's alive, and we'll take it from here."

There is no voting Sunday in the deeply religious nation, which is scattered over more than 300 islands. Election results are expected in early September.

Indians, brought to Fiji in the 19th century by British colonizers to work in sugar plantations, make up 44 percent of Fiji's 820,000 people, but control most of the nation's economy.

International observer missions from the United Nations, British Commonwealth and European Union are monitoring the election.