US President Bill Clinton on Thursday gingerly passed judgement on the tangled US election, saying the American people deserved a full and fair count of their votes.
Clinton spoke to reporters in Brunei before meeting Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, hours after the top election official in Florida rejected requests for vote recounts and pledged to certify final results on Saturday.
Clearly trying to remain above the fray, Clinton said: "I'm over here, so I'm not sure what it means ... I don't think I should get involved in that."
But he added: "The American people deserve a full and fair count. And I hope the process will produce it, and they're over there debating it in the appropriate way."
Clinton has used the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit here to reassure regional leaders that uncertainty over the result of the election will have little impact on US foreign policy.
Last week's election between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush has boiled down to string of legal battles in the southern state of Florida.
Whoever emerges ahead from a chaotic vote count there will be the next occupant of the White House.
In the latest twist in the saga Wednesday, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a staunch Bush supporter, said she had denied requests by four Florida counties to amend vote tallies filed by a statutory deadline of 5:00 p.m. (2200 GMT) Tuesday.
Gore's campaign had insisted on manual recounts in several heavily Democratic counties, hoping to improve the chances of the vice president who trails Bush by 300 votes in a partial official tally unveiled Tuesday.
Harris admitted her ruling was subject to legal challenge.
The two rivals Wednesday took their dispute onto the television airwaves.
Gore said he would accept the final vote count in Florida if it included manual recounts in three counties, or a statewide manual recount should Bush, insist on it.
"If this happens, I will abide by the result, I will take no legal action to challenge the result, and I will not support any legal action to challenge the result," the vice president said.
Bush rejected that proposal, and also said he would only meet Gore after the election result was final.
Asked to comment on whether Gore and Bush should meet, Clinton said: "I don't think I should be involved in that." – WASHINGTON (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
