,,, let's hope they're not going down this guy's road.
Posted on 10/29/2004 10:38:41 PM PDT by NZerFromHK
The positions over the situation in French Polynesia are becoming increasingly entrenched. Although a strong argument can be made that this is a political crisis rather than a constitutional or legal crisis, if two men claim to be the president of French Polynesia and if the main opposition party refuses to concede that it has lost power then a major constitutional crisis is in the making.
Oscar Temaru, the leader of the Union for Democracy (UPLD), appears to have lost most of the legal battles he has waged. He wanted new elections to be held immediately after he lost two censure votes. The Council of State has rejected his claims that the censure motions against him were invalid.
He is now mounting a major political challenge to the restoration to power of the former president, Gaston Flosse. His initial steps are a fast or a hunger strike by the members of his party (a member of his party has clarified that a fast has more of a religious significance) and appeals to the government in France, to French socialists, to the European Union and to the international community generally. In all of this, he is not claiming a return to power for himself but fresh elections.
The French government, through its minister for overseas territories, Brigitte Girardin, is rejecting Mr Temaru's claims and is maintaining that the territory's institutions are working as they should and that fresh elections are not needed.
This position is not without some legal foundation. Mr Temaru's government suffered defeats in motions of censure, effectively votes of no-confidence.
The proper constitutional process after such a loss is for a vote to be held in the Territorial Assembly within 15 days to elect a new president.
That was done last Friday, after an attempt failed earlier in the week because of the lack of a quorum. Mr Flosse was elected, though Mr Temaru's party boycotted the sitting. It also boycotted a sitting on Monday of this week which one of its own members had scheduled. Mr Flosse has now announced a new Cabinet, as he is required to do. His re-election has also been published in the official gazette.
Various judicial procedures have been followed and these have confirmed that all has been done legally.
Some of the issues involved are of long standing but the beginning of the present sequence is best marked by the autonomy statute promulgated in February of this year. Under it, French Polynesia was given further autonomy status, described as an overseas "country," of France and allowed to negotiate a number of international agreements on its own behalf.
French Polynesia, which opted a number of years ago to remain a French overseas territory, already had a degree of autonomy; the February statute broadened this.
Defence, police, foreign affairs and a number of other functions remain the responsibility of Paris.
The statute also increased the number of members of the Territorial Assembly from 49 to 57.
At the request of the then president of French Polynesia, Mr Flosse, the Territorial Assembly was dissolved and fresh elections called, which had an unanticipated outcome: Mr Flosse's Rally for the Republic of Polynesia or Tahaoroa Huiraatira won 28 of the votes and the party of Mr Temaru's party won 27 but managed to attract two other members to form a coalition. Mr Temaru was elected president.
Although long a campaigner for the independence from France of French Polynesia, Mr Temaru did not consider the election win a mandate to declare independence but thought he might edge the territory toward independence over the next couple of decades.
Then, when it came to the censure vote, one of the two who had joined with Mr Temaru's party to form a coalition defected. This man had something of a reputation of switching his allegiance. Mr Temaru had been president for about four months.
When it became clear Mr Temaru had been defeated on a no-confidence vote and that Mr Flosse might resume power there was, for French Polynesia, a huge demonstration. About 25,000 people (roughly 10% of the total population) took part in a peaceful march.
The march and the moves by the Temaru party are not to be interpreted as pro-independence but as anti-Flosse.
He has been grossly extravagant in some of the projects he has undertaken and has run much of French Polynesia in a manner that suited his own purposes and those whom he favoured.
Mr Temaru has been restraining the more radical members of his party and it may be accepted that he will do everything he can to keep the various forms of protest non-violent. Nevertheless, he will be persistent in demanding fresh elections.
French Polynesia is New Zealand's second-largest Pacific export market, though New Zealand firms have not been successful in getting the bigger construction contracts within French Polynesia, largely because Mr Flosse has personally awarded them. Mr Temaru was thought to be better disposed toward New Zealand.
The economy of French Polynesia depended heavily on the expenditure by the French military when they were there for nuclear testing. France compensates the territory for the loss of the income from the military.
Its main industries are the production of black pearls, deepsea fishing and tourism.
Like the tourism industries of other countries, French Polynesia's took a severe blow after the attack on the US on September 11, 2001.
The present instability will discourage the foreign investment the country badly needs.
Mr Temaru is gaining some backing from French socialists but also other French politicians who are leaning to the view that fresh elections would be a proper republican response to the crisis. Time is not, however, on Mr Temaru's side.
Stuart McMillan is an adjunct senior fellow in the school of political science and communication at the University of Canterbury
"[I]f two men claim to be the president of French Polynesia and if the main opposition party refuses to concede that it has lost power then a major constitutional crisis is in the making."
Let us hope John "French" Kerry doesn't get any ideas from his Pacific cousins.
"Locals hate the French, and adore Americans. Gotta love them for that at least."
I was there in '85. Everyone hated the French...some things are universal. It humors me when the French talk about Americans and our "emperialism" when they engage in real emperialism in Tahiti, etc. At that time they were forcing the natives to install electric power in their homes....the Tahitians kept saying "WHY"? They don't need heat and they prefer to cook outdoors. But the French know best..........
,,, let's hope they're not going down this guy's road.
,,, France takes the more advanced cases to Paris for cancer treatment. The nuclear testing programme has its legacies.
It's going to be Dear Helen's ultimate nightmare. Should she support her new soulmate Jacques (and thus Gaston Flosse) or her old pal Oscar Tameru? Tameru spent a long period of time in NZ and know Winston, David Lange, Helen herself and even Tariana Turia very well. In fact, Tariana has released a statement supportive of Tameru and the 20,000 "hikoi" of his supporters in Papeete a fortnight ago.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.