19 Jun 2003

Former Fiji PM may seek comeback

4:15 pm on 19 June 2003

Fiji's former prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka admits to seeing himself regaining the prime ministership again but his first priority will be finding coalition partners with his SVT party.

The SVT leader says he wants to rebuild his party as an alternative to the ruling SDL party and the Labour party which he describes as race based.

During a recent interview on Fiji TV's Closeup programme, over 11-hundred viewers called to say that Mr Rabuka would make a good alternative prime minister while 800 disagreed.

Mr Rabuka says he will advocate for a type of nationalism which will include all races and cultures in Fiji.

"We will be continuing to rebuild the SVT as a Fiji-based party, a national interest based party, not race based - that's the one I could try and formulate in the next few years. My aim is not to win elections as prime minister, my aim is to offer Fiji an alternative to what they have."

Sitiveni Rabuka.

Mr Rabuka carried out two military coups in 1987 and his SVT party was in government from 1992 - 1999.