Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Fiji’s Labour Party leader says governance still needs to be sorted out before any elections

Posted at 23:16 on 22 February, 2009 UTC

Fiji’s Labour Party leader, Mahendra Chaudhry, says his country still needs to sort out its governance problems before holding an election to avoid another coup.

He said it would not be practical having election by the end of this year.

Mr Chaudhry, who was ousted as Prime Minister in 2000, said Fiji needs to solve those problems, otherwise it will always have a turbulent democracy.

The Fiji Times quotes Mr Chaudhry as saying if it takes time to hold elections while things are sorted out, a timeline should be given.