(8 Sep 2001) 1. Various of Laisenia Qarase, leader of the Fijian United Party on phone 2. Qarase and wife arriving at party meeting 3. Wide shot of Qarase walking into meeting 4. Various of meeting inside hall 5. Close up of newspaper headline "President's Call" 6. Various of Qarase and supporters singing hymns 7. Various of Qarase and party workers posing for photographs 8. Cutaway of cameraman 9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Laisenia Qarase, leader of the Fijian United Party "I will be the next prime minister, there is no doubt about that now." 10. Cutaway of cameraman 11. SOUNDBITE (English) Laisenia Qarase, leader of the Fijian United Party "I would respectfully request Mr Goff (New Zealand foreign minister) to, not to make suggestions on what we should do in Fiji. This is an internal matter, we are quite capable of resolving our problems. We don't need advice on this particular issue from anybody from outside." 12. Cutaway 13. SOUNDBITE (English) Laisenia Qarase, leader of the Fijian United Party "It won't be racially balanced, but it will certainly provide the security and stability that our citizens are waiting for." 14. Various of turtle on its back waiting to be eaten 15. Various of party supporters dancing 16. Wide shot of Conservative Alliance party headquarters 17. Close up of poster of George Speight pans to another candidate poster 18. Various of Conservative Alliance meeting 19. Head of the Commonwealth Observer Group Sir Henry Forde departs hotel STORYLINE: The leader of Fiji's indigenous Fijian United Party on Saturday said he could be the troubled Pacific nation's prime minister by Monday. Laisenia Qarase said he would have a deal with a group of moderates and independent legislators sorted out by Saturday evening. Final election results in Fiji gave Qarase's party 31 seats in the 71-seat parliament, while the Indian-dominated Fiji Labor Party took 27 and the hardline nationalist Fijian Conservative Alliance six. Qarase said he expected to present President Ratu Josefa Iloilo with a letter confirming he was able to form the new government on Monday. In the election, three minor parties managed four seats and independents two. Qarase's negotiators have been in talks with both the moderate group and with the Conservative Alliance for the six key votes needed to clinch the majority in parliament. Qarase said the two independents had already committed in writing to support his party in parliamentary votes. The door was not closed on the Conservative Alliance, and further talks were planned in the coming 24 hours. But by cutting a deal with the moderates, Qarase would keep the Conservative Alliance out of government. One of the Alliance's six new lawmakers is George Speight, the jailed leader of last year's coup that unseated Fiji's first ethnic Indian prime minister. Speight was elected from his prison cell, where he is awaiting trial on treason charges that carry the death penalty. Qarase is said to prefer sharing power with the moderates because the Conservative Alliance is demanding pardons for Speight and his 12 fellow conspirators - a concession he does not want to make. The party said it was prepared to take up seats in the opposition if frozen out of a coalition. The Alliance also wanted key cabinet posts and a deputy prime minister's position, but the party is widely seen as unacceptable to the ethnic Indian community which makes up two fifths of the population. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/8540b0fd24362599ca9b35d9eecd4ac4

• published: 21 Jul 2015
• views: 266