30 Nov 2010

Cook Islands Party welcomes final election results

8:15 am on 30 November 2010

The Cook Islands Party says it's very happy the final election result has delivered it a two-thirds majority.

The final count gave the Cook Islands Party an extra seat which had been tied after the preliminary result.

That lifted it's total number of seats to 16, and left the Democratic Party with only eight.

The two-thirds majority gives the Cook Islands Party the power to make amendments to the constitution.

The party's vice-president and MP Mark Brown says they will be using that to close loopholes exploited by the previous Democratic Party government to maintain power despite its internal divisions

"So that we don't be put under the situation where a minority, all it took was the cabinet members, six people are basically running the country and ignoring the voices of the majority."

Mark Brown says any amendments to the constitution will require wide debate, and at this stage they are not looking at any other immediate changes.