17 May 2006

Fiji Labour party leader refuses to concede defeat over the elections at this point

1:13 pm on 17 May 2006

The Fiji Labour party leader, Mahendra Chaudhry, is refusing to concede defeat in the general elections at this point.

Mr Chaudhry says it's too early for the SDL party of Laisenia Qarase to claim victory and he doesn't believe that they have a mandate to govern.

The SDL party is expected to win at least 34 seats plus the support of an independent in the 71 seat parliament.

But, Mr Chaudhry says there are still some seats to be declared and it's not over yet.

"All the results haven't been declared as yet and Mr Qarase is claiming victory with the help of two independents, not on his own. Now, those independents have not committed themselves to him as yet. I've spoken to both of them this morning and we are going to have our own discussions when I get back to Suva this afternoon."

Despite Mr Chaudhry's comments, one of the independents, Robin Irwin, has said publicly since his win that he will support the SDL party, but the other, George Konrote, is refusing to commit to either side.