(6 Sep 2001) SHOTLIST
Suva - 6 September 2001
1. Various of policeman reading paper - Headline reads "Cliffhanger"
2. Various counting ballots
3. Mahendra Chaudry, the ousted Prime Minister arrives at his Labour party headquarters
4. Labour Party official on telephone
5. Various Fiji Labour Party meeting with Chowdry inside headquarters
6. High shot of Laisenia Qarase meeting other Fijian politicians
7. Pan of Methodist Church where Laisenia Qarase is discussing party alliances with other politicians
8. Laisenia Qarase meeting other Fijian politicians
9. Wide exterior of Laisenia Qarase, the interim PM until today and the SDL party leader's house
10. Various of Qarase, wife and grandchildren at their house
11. Cutaway to Qarase, tilts down to flowers sent for congratulations
10. Various cutaways of family
11. Set up shot of Qarase on the phone
12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Laisenia Qarase, interim PM until today and the SDL party leader
"Well he will provide a formidable opposition so that's one good thing, it will keep the government on its toes but under the constitution, if I become Prime Minister I will have to invite him to participate at cabinet level. That's the provision of our constitution because they won more than eight seats. Now it is up to him whether he accepts that or not. It is possible that he won't because some of things that he is always pressing for that are actually opposite to what we want as indigenous people. But assuming that he does not accept that Parliament will be a very lively place with him as opposition. There is no two ways about that."
11. Cutaway of Qarase holding mobile
12. Wide of news conference held by Mahendra Chaudry, ousted PM
13. Cutaway
14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mahendra Chaudry, ousted PM
"Of great concern to us is the irregularities that we have discovered in the conduct of the 2001 general elections. And we believe that there has been massive rigging of votes."
15. Cutaway to cameraman
16. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mahendra Chaudry, ousted PM
"No party has as yet obtained an overall majority, an absolute majority, to govern on its own, it seems highly unlikely that that will be the case, it will have to be a coalition. Unfortunately, this time around there were no pre-election coalitions
17. Pull out to news conference
STORYLINE:
Deposed Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry claimed there had been widespread fraud in the counting of ballots during the country's election and blamed the party of his main political rival, interim Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase.
Chaudhry said Labor Party lawyers were preparing a court challenge to the validity of the vote in at least five seats.
International observer teams from the United Nations, the British Commonwealth and the European Union all said voting in the election, the first since a May 2000 nationalist coup that toppled Chaudhry, was free and fair.
The international monitors could not immediately be reached for comment on Chaudhry's allegations.
Chaudhry based his claims on the fact that there were an unusually high number of invalid votes in some seats formerly held by Labor but lost at this election.
Qarase did not immediately comment on Chaudhry's explosive claims.
By early afternoon Thursday, the SDL had won 23 seats and the nationalist Conservative Alliance six in the 71 seat legislature. Labor had captured 27.
Qarase said he would lead the next government by forming a coalition with other indigenous Fijian parties.
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