The leader of the victorious Cook Islands party Henry Puna says he's awaiting the results of the final count in the election before making any decisions about who will be in his cabinet and his deputy prime minister.
Our correspondent Florence Syme-Buchanan reports
"Mr Puna says the Cook Islands Party has started discussions on who will be in his cabinet but he's not in a position to make an announcement until the final count is done which he expects to be completed by the end of the week. Mr Puna gives the impression that he's open to the option of having a woman to be the non-elected 7th member of his cabinet, he says it's not a decision that he is prepared to make alone and such a person would need to be able to work with his team. The Cook Islands party leader has indicated that when he forms a government, his administration will continue with the practice of having associate ministers saying they have many capable people in the team and they've set themselves very challenging tasks which would need many hands on deck."
