By Phil Mercer BBC correspondent in Sydney

The Supreme Court last month ordered Mr Qarase to include rival parliamentarians in his cabinet after ruling he had breach the constitution by excluding them.

The list of 14 Labour MPs invited into government did not include the party leader, Mahendra Chaudhry, who was Fiji's first ethnic Indian prime minister who was deposed three years ago.

Mr Qarase: Rebuffed by the opposition

It is this exclusion that is causing this political stalemate.

The Labour parliamentarians nominated for cabinet have said they will only take up the offer if their party leader is included.

Mr Qarase has insisted he had selected 14 opposition members with whom he could work. Mr Chaudhry clearly doesn't fit into this category.

The two men rarely agree and their relationship is often openly antagonistic.

Instability

While two of Fiji's most powerful elected leaders continue to pull in opposite directions, the country's political landscape looks increasingly unstable.

Once again, the judiciary will be called upon to try to resolve the impasse. The case will be heard by the Supreme Court for a second time.

Last month, it ruled the prime minister had acted unconstitutionally by refusing to include rival politicians in his cabinet. The law states that larger opposition parties must be invited into government.