Temaru asks forum for help in poll

Gaston Flosse

Deposed French Polynesian President Oscar Temaru this week asked the Pacific Forum in Fiji to provide observers for the looming election in Tahiti/Moorea, fearful that allegations of irregularities could be used to overturn a positive result for his Union pour la Democratie Party (UDP).

This would be a re-run of events which led to a successful no-confidence vote in the legislative assembly, based on the accusations which saw Gaston Flosse's pro-French Tahoeraa Huiraatira party voted back into power only four months after the UDP won the elections with the very vulnerable majority of one.

"We have to create a level playing field for the elections," Temaru told the Weekend Herald. He said accusations of unfair pressure on voters in the Tahiti/Moorea constituency - contributing 37 of the 57 seats to the assembly - were baseless.

Flags, bunting and a friendly radio station did not constitute unfair pressure in the context of the Flosse electoral machine with its newspaper and television support in the territory's most populous constituency.

Temaru said his "Plan Two" was an appeal for help to the United Nations, though he was aware of the likely repercussions from Paris against any move inviting foreign involvement in France's colonial territories.

Talks in Paris between the factions, brokered by French overseas minister Brigitte Giraudin, broke down last week when Flosse stormed out of the meeting, even though France has confirmed him in the presidency until voting takes place in Tahiti/Moorea in February.

Meanwhile, the situation in Tahiti is tense. Independence supporters are occupying the presidential palace again but at Temaru's request they pulled back from sitting in key Government offices in Papeete, which was severely disrupting the machinery of government.

Flosse, who originally refused to go to Paris to "negotiate with terrorists", says Temaru is behind the occupations and the activists' "wanton violence".

Although Temaru appreciates the activists' support, he does not control the men who run the protests - principally Tahitian aristocrat Joinville Pomare (the statue of his grandfather, the last king of Tahiti, adorns the quay at Papeete), and ex-professional soldier Gaston Tetuanui.

After Temaru lost power their teams moved quickly into the presidential palace and six strategic ministries.

Up went the slogan "Dissolution" in waist-high letters, aimed at achieving dissolution of the poll results.

Pomare believes France as colonial power has permitted Flosse - a Duvalier of the Pacific - to create a situation which could lead to Ivory Coast-style upheavals.

Years in power have not endeared the French masters to Tahitians. Papeete is a scruffy city, clogged with traffic, dirty and expensive. Government-funded projects have enriched the few and seduced the workforce into thinking they would continue.

The French colonial legacy gave us Algeria, Vietnam and the Ivory Coast upheavals. Is it about to give us another?