TONG SANG REGAINS FRENCH POLYNESIA PRESIDENCY

PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

TONG SANG REGAINS FRENCH POLYNESIA PRESIDENCY
Flosse overturned after 52 days in office

PAPEETE, Tahiti (Tahitipresse, April 15, 2008) – Gaston Tong Sang is once again Tahiti's president after a no confidence motion toppled the Gaston Flosse government Tuesday morning with the minimum majority of 29 votes in the 57-seat French Polynesia Assembly. This is the sixth time since 2004 that French Polynesia has had a new president and the second time in 52 days.

It took the assembly only about an hour to deal with the motion of no confidence that Tong Sang's then opposition To Tatou Ai'a coalition filed last Thursday against the Flosse government created on Feb. 28 in an historic partnership with long-time political rival, pro-Tahiti independence leader Oscar Temaru.

That partnership, which led to Temaru being elected assembly speaker and his coalition having 10 of the 15 ministerial posts in President Flosse's government, lasted only 47 days.

Under the new terms of French Polynesia's autonomy statute approved by the French Parliament in December, Tong Sang immediately became president following the assembly's vote. He has five days to announce up to 15 ministers in his new government.

The change in governments once again occurred as a result of a revolving door role played by assembly representatives from the outer islands. They have played a key role in most of the six changes in government since 2004. During that time there have been eight motions filed in attempts to topple governments. Only two of those motions failed to get the minimum required 29 votes for adoption.

This time it was Justine Teura from the Leeward Islands and once again Michel Yip from the Tuamotu Archipelago who switched their political allegiances, both having resigned Monday night from the UDSP, or Union for Development, Stability and Peace. That coalition was formed by Flosse's Tahoera'a Huiraatira party and Temaru's Union for Democracy (UPLD) coalition. The two representatives were also part of the UPLD.

Besides the 29 votes cast in favor of the no confidence motion, one vote was blank. That surprised no one because Armelle Merceron, a member of Flosse's pro-France, pro-Tahiti autonomy party and former finance minister in Tong Sang's first government, had already announced she would once again file a blank ballot if no major majority were formed. However, although the only member of Flosse's party present Tuesday, she sat in the unaffiliated section of the assembly Tuesday, not in the empty Tahoera'a and UDSP sections.

Temaru opened the assembly session as speaker, but after a roll call confirmed that there was a quorum present, he left the hall, turning the speaker role over to the second vice speaker, Hiro Tefaarere, a member of Tong Sang's coalition.

Tong Sang, the mayor of Bora Bora in the Leeward Islands, returns to power for the second time in less than two years, having served as French Polynesia president from December 2006 to September 2007.

This is the second time that a Flosse government has been toppled, the first time having occurred in October 2004. But it was the sixth time since 1984 that Flosse, the 76-year-old doyen of Tahitian politics, had served as French Polynesia president. However, during his two latest terms he never served more than a few months in a post that is supposed to last five years.

Although Tuesday's assembly agenda called for four speakers, only two persons spoke. They were Jean-Christophe Bouissou, one of the party leaders in Tong Sang's coalition, and Tong Sang, who both used their allotted time of 10 minutes each. Teina Maraeura, head of a group of outer islanders in the assembly and a supporter of the Tong Sang coalition, declined to speak.

The agenda allowed for the Flosse government to defend itself for 60 minutes Tuesday. But since no one was present, the assembly proceeded with the vote on the no confidence motion.

Go back to Pacific Islands Report: Graphics or Text Only.