Ex-Leader, Coup Plotter Win Parliament Seats

A former Fijian prime minister and the coup leader who drove him from office won seats in Parliament, according to election results today, in a vote aimed at restoring democracy to the troubled South Pacific nation.

Mahendra Chaudhry, who was Fiji’s first ethnic Indian prime minister, won his district in the Indian stronghold in the west, election officials said.

George Speight also won a seat in the legislature, 16 months after he overthrew the nation’s democratically elected government.

Chaudhry’s main rival for power, military-installed interim Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, also won his seat, officials added.