Cook Is. election 'most important’

Press, 31 January 1983, Page 6

Cook Is. election 'most important’

NZPA special correspondent Rarotonga The Cook Islands election on March 30 will be the most important in the island nation’s 18 years of selfgovernment, according to the newly elected leader of the Unity Party, Mr Joseph Williams. Unity has emerged as the third force in Cook Islands politics and Mr Williams, a former minister in Mr. Albert Henry’s administrations, predicted it could win the March 30 poll with a majority of two or three seats in the 24-seat Parliament. The deputy leader, Mr Eric Browne, is also a former member of Parliament for the Cook Islands Party, led by Mr Henry until his death, but Unity’s president, Mr Tiapape Heather, was formerly a main figure in the present ruling party,

the Democratic, led by the Premier, Sir Thomas Davis. Unity is expected to attract other members from both established parties before candidates’ nominations close at the end of February. Mr Williams, confirmed in the Unity's leadership, last week, said of the March 30 poll: "This election is not an ordinary election. It is perhaps the most important in our short political history and for the first time the people of the Cook Islands are being given a real alternative to what we already have. “I am confident that Unity will win all nine-Rarotonga seats ... we can see that there is every chance of winning government by an outright majority of two or three seats, meaning that Unity will win 14 to 15 of the 24 seats.”-