20,000 march in Tahiti for parliamentary dissolution
21 Oct 2004 07:12 GMTIn French Polynesia the pro-independence "government of Oscar Temaru has just been deprived of its electoral victory of 23rd May with the benediction from Paris." according to a communique from the Europe Pacific Solidarity Seminar. "The corrupt and mafioso system of Gaston Flosse is going to be put back into the saddle in order to cover more than 20 years of wasting public funds and of corruption of elected people." said the statement.
20,000 rally in Papeete for fresh electionsOn Saturday, 16 October, the biggest rally ever in Papeete gathered to support Oscar Temaru and demand the dissolution of parliament and fresh elections. According to a tahitipresse report "An estimated crowd of more than 20,000 people peacefully marched into downtown Papeete on Saturday, calling for the dissolution of the French Polynesia Assembly so that new elections could be held."
[Melbourne IMC | Aotearoa IMC | European Centre on Pacific Issues | La Polynésie, c'est loin ?(fr)]
On October 8, 2004 the pro-independence Temaru Government of French Polynesia was defeated in a no-confidence motion in the local assembly, after serving just four months in office. (BBC Report) The Temaru government says the French authorities have refused to dissolve the assembly and call new parliamentary elections.
Twice in the past week, France has ruled out calling an election. Former French government minister and member of the Socialist Party, Christian Paul, has said there have been acts of "methodical destabilisation" on the part of the French government. This has also been echoed by French Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande. (BBC report)
On Wednesday 20th October pro-independence members of the territorial assembly boycotted a session to elect a new President (Gaston Flosse), thus the election failed for a lack of a quorum. A further session will be held on Friday, where a quorum will not be required and a simple majority is only necessary. (BBC Report)
Meanwhile Oscar Temaru has asked the Papeete administrative court to suspend, then cancel the Oct. 8 adopted censure motion against his Government.
PACIFIC: Defeat for colonialists (Tahiti & Kanaky in May 2004)
Norman Brewer, Auckland 25.Oct.2004 15:36
The president of French Polynesia Oscar Temaru (left) with an French ex-minister
[ PHOTO: The president of French Polynesia Oscar Temaru (left) with former French government Overseas Minister Christian Paul (right). ]
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In elections on May 9 in New Caledonia (Kanaky) and on May 23 in French Polynesia (Te Ao Maohi, also known by the name of its main island, Tahiti), both pro-French ruling parties unexpectedly found themselves unseated. In another parallel, both pro-French presidential candidates failed on June 10.
With only a four-year interruption, 72-year-old Gaston Flosse and his Tahoeraa Huiraatira party ruled French Polynesia for the last two decades. He was defeated by independence leader Oscar Temaru’s Union for Democracy (UDP), a coalition built around the pro-independence organisation Hiti Tau (“the time has come to react”).
Temaru was also a central figure in the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement in the 1990s, campaigning against nuclear testing on the Mururoa Atoll.
The UDP won 26 votes — two less than Flosse’s party. But Temaru secured the support of three elected “autonomists”: Phillippe Schyle, whose “autonomy party” Fetia Api has joined the UDP, former tourism minister Nicole Bouteau and Chantal Flores from the Austral Islands.
The resulting 29 votes elected UDP candidate Anthony Geros as assembly president, whereupon France’s overseas minister Brigitte Girardin threatened to cut off funding to French Polynesia should Temaru be elected president. France also sent in an additional 120 anti-riot police.
However, one day before the presidential election, Gaston Flosse pulled out, leaving Temaru as the only contender. Schyle claimed that Flosse had offered several positions to his party in return for voting for Flosse as president.
The governing UDP has assured France that it will refrain from moving towards independence in the near future, foreseeing instead a gradual shift, culminating in a popular vote on the issue in several years’ time. On election night, Temaru said that “Tahiti might not be [economically] ready for an independence referendum before 10 or 15 years from now”.
It receives about $1 billion per year from France. Four non-independence members of the one-seat-majority coalition have now formed an autonomy group.
Flosse tried to legally challenge the elections, but his request was rejected by France’s council of states within one day, after the Temaru-friendly French Socialist Party objected to the government’s “turn off the taps” threat.
On June 10, Flosse once again emerged as a bad loser, when his party stayed away from the presidential election, thus invalidating it, as a three-fifths quorum was required. He subsequently lost one defector to Temaru.
On June 14, Temaru became the first pro-independence president of a French colony (when a simple majority quorum was required), gaining 30 out of 57 votes.
According to the Tahitipresse news agency, the new coalition government program includes the gradual increase of the minimum wage, work days that don’t start before 9am, an improvement of social services, political decentralisation, educational reform, and a revision of the new autonomy statute after French Polynesia was declared a French Overseas Country in March.
New Caledonia
The party that ruled New Caledonia for the last quarter of a century, Jacques Lafleur's RPCR (Rally for Caledonia within France), now only holds 16 of the 54 parliamentary seats. But unlike French Polynesia, where pro-independence and pro-autonomy forces took power, the crisis in New Caledonia has been caused by a split in the ruling party. The split-off L'Avenir Ensemble (Future Together) now also holds 16 seats.
Disunity in the pro-independence camp — made up of UNI-FLNKS (Kanak Socialist National Liberation
Front) and Union Caledonienne — also dropped five seats to 18. The fascist National Front holds four seats.
The government has to reflect the proportions of the Congress, and the June 10 elections saw two women take leading positions in the 11-member government — a first for the Pacific Islands. Marie-Noelle Themereau of L’Avenir Ensemble was chosen as president, and FLNKS activist, poet and writer Dewe Gorodey was re-elected as vice-president. However, just hours later the government collapsed when all RPCR members resigned. New elections are due on June 24.
French Socialist Party secretary general Francois Hollande linked the election results in French Polynesia and New Caledonia to the April French elections, where all but one of metropolitan France’s regions shifted to the left.
According to Oceania Flash news service, Hollande noted: “First, Lucette Michaud-Chevry in Guadeloupe (French Caribbean), then Jacques Lafleur in New Caledonia, and now, this is Chirac’s overseas network’s third pillar that has just collapsed.” The French Socialist Party recently signed an alliance memorandum with Temaru, backing his pro-independence movement.
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From Green Left Weekly, June 23, 2004.
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French Polynesia brace for riots (links to VIDEO)
TVNZ - Oct 30, 2004 31.Oct.2004 01:57
Ousted French Polynesia (Tahiti) President & Indepence Leader Oscar Temaru
The French government is trying to oust French Polynesia's first indigenous president, Oscar Temaru. He was elected into power five months ago, but now his supporters are occupying his office building in a desperate bid to try and keep him in power.
http://tvnz.co.nz/cda/tvnz/video_popup_windows_skin/456020?bandwidth=128k
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_world_story_skin/456002%3fformat=html
http://www.PIReport.org/
http://www.PacificMagazine.net/
http://www.Tahitipresse.pf/index.cfm?lang=2
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http://news.google.com.au/news?hl=en&ned=au&q=temaru&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d
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Related Video on Tahiti presidential conflict (02:02) @
]
Temaru is accusing Paris and his political foe, Gaston Flosse, of plotting to oust him following a vote of no confidence.
Now Temaru and his supporters want fresh elections and are not prepared to leave the presidential offices until that happens.
In the past political tension has lead to riots, so traditional leaders are now calling for calm.
Locals are insisting on business as usual but there is real tension as both Temaru and Flosse each claim they lead the legitimate government.
Flosse has taken legal action to get Temaru and his supporters removed from the presidential offices he considers his own.
Source: One News
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