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Deposed PM and Coup Leader Win Seats in Fiji Poll
Coup leader George Speight won a seat in Fiji's parliament on Wednesday as the man he toppled, former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, held an early lead with the solid backing of his ethnic Indian supporters.
It was unclear if Speight, who is being held on an island prison awaiting trial for treason, will ever sit in the parliament he took over by force last year, but his radical indigenous party looked set to play a crucial role.
Moderate parties were faring badly. Some politicians warned that the extremes of both sides were doing well and that would not help heal Fiji's ethnic divisions.
Speight's party, which fielded 35 candidates, had been expected to win only one or two seats but has so far taken six.
Only hours before he won his seat, Speight appeared in a Suva court on minor charges related to his coup in May 2000. He will have to give up his seat if he is unable to attend parliament because he is in jail. His trial is due to start early in 2002.
Chaudhry, toppled by Speight in last year's racially inspired coup, easily won his seat of Ba in the west as his Fiji Labour Party picked up 22 seats -- 17 of the 19 Indian communal seats and five mixed race seats -- in the 71-seat parliament.
Reacting to Speight's success Chaudhry later told a Fiji television channel: "That is a seat wasted because he will not be able to sit in parliament on account of the charges he faces."
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