UPDATED: 7:04am – The leader of Fiji’s main opposition party, Sodelpa, has reportedly ruled out entering into a coalition with other parties ahead of next year’s election.
Sitiveni Rabuka has told the Fiji Times that Sodelpa will contest the election alone, as agreed by the party’s management board.
Last year, Mr Rabuka invited opposition parties to join with Sodelpa in order to unseat the governing Fiji First party, which maintains a strong majority.
The leader of the Fiji Labour Party, which is currently not in parliament, Mahendra Chaudhry, also raised the idea of a grand coalition in order prevent vote splitting.
But the idea of an opposition coalition has never been universally popular, with the leader of the National Federation Party – the only other party in parliament – Biman Prasad saying it was “technically not possible.”
The main parties have also lost members who have sought to form their own parties, making the prospect of a coalition more difficult.
-RNZ
