Nauru still deadlocked after second election

Political stalemate in the impoverished Pacific nation of Nauru persisted Monday after the second inconclusive election in two months.

bdnews24.com
Published : 20 June 2010, 08:59 PM
Updated : 20 June 2010, 08:59 PM
WELLINGTON, June 21 (bdnews24.com/AFP) - Political stalemate in the impoverished Pacific nation of Nauru persisted Monday after the second inconclusive election in two months.
President Marcus Stephen called Saturday's election for the 18-seat parliament after two months of gridlock in which neither Stephen's governing group nor the opposition were able to form a government after an April 24 vote.
In Saturday's election, the opposition grouping lost one of its nine seats but it was not immediately clear which side the new legislator would support, a government statement said late Sunday.
The new parliament is due to meet on Tuesday to try to elect a new speaker and president for the nation of about 14,000 people.
Stephen said the latest election showed a swing in favour of his grouping.
"This would indicate that despite the recent difficult political times, our supporters have rallied behind us in greater numbers and on paper, have given us a mandate to continue to govern in their interests," Stephen said.
The 21-square kilometre (eight-square-mile) island nation just south of the equator used to be one of the world's richest on a per capita basis.
Nauru's wealth was based on the mining of phosphate deposits, exported for fertiliser, but the deposits are depleted and the country is now heavily dependent on foreign aid.
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