The separatists win the territorial elections in Polynesia

May 1, 2023

The separatists won the territorial elections in French Polynesia on Sunday, a victory which guarantees them the reins of the South Pacific community for five years and opens the way to a possible referendum on self-determination.

The list of the Tavini huiraatira party led by the former president of the government Oscar Temaru obtained 44.3% of the votes in the second round and, thanks to the voting method, an absolute majority of 38 of the 57 seats in the Territorial Assembly, according to the provisional results of the High Commission of the Republic in New Caledonia.

She preceded that of outgoing autonomist president Edouard Fritch, credited with 38.5% of the vote (16 seats), and that of former autonomist vice-president Nuihau Laurey (17.1% of the vote and 3 seats), according to these results.

The party of Oscar Temaru, 78, is due to present the candidacy of moderate MP Moetai Brotherson, 51, for the post of Prime Minister on May 10.

This clear victory places the independence camp in a position of strength against the French state to negotiate a referendum on self-determination for this territory, the size of Europe, of five archipelagos 17,000 km away from Paris.

If they mainly campaigned on purchasing power, the separatists also made it known that they wanted to launch a process of decolonization.

“We are not going to be independent tomorrow or next week,” however assured Mr. Brotherson after his victory on the television channel TNTV. “I have no problem working with the state and that will not change tomorrow,” continued the elected official, a figure of the moderate wing of his party.

“Polynesians voted for change. The government takes note of this democratic choice,” reacted Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Twitter. “We will work with the newly elected majority with commitment and rigor, to continue to improve the daily lives of our fellow Polynesian citizens”.

France has always refused to organize a self-determination referendum in this overseas community.

This is the first time that the separatists have a solid majority at the head of Polynesia. Overthrown according to alliances and ruptures between 2004 and 2013, they never retained power for a full term.

Since internal autonomy in 1984, the autonomists have exercised power almost continuously outside of these nine years of instability.

The outgoing Edouard Fritch, 71, in office for nine years, was already a minister in the 1984 government.

After having won the three seats of deputies allocated to Polynesia during the legislative elections of 2022, the separatists largely benefited on Sunday from the carryover of votes from the parties eliminated in the first round of the ballot on April 16, which all campaigned against Edouard Fritch.

Their list came first with 34.9%, against 30.46% for Mr. Fritch and 14.53% for Mr. Laurey.

Clearly beaten, Edouard Fritch first paid the price for his government’s poor communication during the Covid epidemic.

Despite a rather positive economic record, some voters also blamed him for the high inflation suffered by Polynesia in 2022 (8.5%), because he introduced a new VAT to preserve local social security.

Mr. Fritch had played his all by joining forces the day after the first round with Gaston Flosse, his former mentor and ex-father-in-law, with whom he was at odds.

Condemned multiple times and ineligible, Gaston Flosse, 91, long considered the undisputed master of Polynesia, was unable to participate in the ballot. But the list led by his party (11.88%) came very close to the required score (12.5%) to qualify for the second round.

Mr Fritch expressed his “disappointment” after his defeat. “Our country is autonomous and we will fight so that it remains thus within the Republic”, he added to the press, “independence is not the future of this country”.

From Paris, the left hailed the victory of the independence camp. Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI) was delighted that a “new era is beginning”. Polynesia “needed a left-wing alternative to fight against poverty and inequality”, underlined Olivier Faure (PS).