The office of the Prime Minister in the Cook Islands says the government has chartered a plane to fly election winners from some outer islands to Rarotonga.
It said the cost of the flight was about $NZ32,000.
Cook Islands Parliament Photo: Supplied
The assistant clerk of Parliament Helen Maunga said the plane would first fly to the northern island of Pukapuka to uplift the winning Cook Islands Party candidate Tingika Elikana.
Ms Maunga said it would then proceed to Penrhyn, the northernmost island in the group for the successful independent candidate Robert Tapaitau and his wife, as well as a medical patient.
The clerk said there were actually two patients who needed to be transferred from Penrhyn but only one can be brought to Rarotonga on the charter flight because another seat is not available.
Winning Cook Islands Party candidate for Pukapuka, Tingika Elikana and Mrs Elikana. Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Florence Syme-Buchanan
She said Parliamentary Services had left it to medical officers on Penrhyn to prioritise which patient gets on the flight.
'Parliamentary Services made provisions in its budget to bring winning candidates to Rarotonga knowing that there would a general election this year," Ms Maunga said.
