20 Jul 2006

Fiji PM seeks legal advice on FLP woes

6:28 pm on 20 July 2006

Fiji's prime minister is to seek legal advice on the future of the multi-party cabinet because of the infighting in the Labour Party.

Radio Fiji quotes Laisenia Qarase as saying he is not quite clear about the constitutional provisions for parliamentarians in certain circumstances. .

He says if FLP members who are in the cabinet decide to cross the floor, they will lose their seats automatically.

Mr Qarase says what is not clear to him is the legal position if the FLP ministers are expelled from the party.

On that, Mr Qarase says, he will seek legal advice.

The Fiji Labour Party's national council will meet at the end of this month to decide on disciplinary action against five dissident members of the party's management board who have questioned Mahendra Chaudhry's decision making.

Two of them, Krishna Datt and Poseci Bune, are ministers in the multi-party cabinet.