Pro-independence French Polynesian leader Oscar Temaru has returned to the helm of the French Pacific territory after a Legislative Assembly motion was passed at the weekend, ousting conservative Gaston Tong Sang.
A dramatic change has also happed in New Caledonia with the Congress electing veteran pro-independence politician Roch Wamytan as its new President.
Chosen by 32 of the 35 members present -boycotted by two parties – Wamytan is the first pro-independence member to make it to the territorial legislature’s top office in 34 years.
In French Polynesia, 29e of the 57 MPs supported the motion of no-confidence, which also contained the name of Temaru as the designated President and head of the Union for Democracy (UPLD).
The support came from UPLD and a handful of MPs from the outer islands, who have been, over the past five years, a reliable reserve of “floating” votes.
Tong Sang’s party, the To Tatou Ai’a and the former ruling party of Gaston Flosse, the Tahoeraa Huiraatira, did not support the ouster motion.
Others simply left the Chamber before the vote began, local media reported.
Tong Sang’s government came into place 15 months ago, but had lost a clear majority and had been potentially fragile and exposed to ouster moves over the past few months.
Self-determination
Speaking after his election, Temaru said one of the objectives of his government would be to put back on the agenda the question of self-determination for French Polynesia in order to achieve a “sovereign State”.
The other pillar of his action would be based on moves to restore a fledging economy, already badly affecter by over five years of chronic instability due to regular changes of governments caused by shifts in alliances and subsequent votes of no confidence motions.
A draft paper is currently under consideration in Paris with the aim of revamping French Polynesia’s electoral system in order to achieve clearer majorities in future.
Temaru has already been President of French four times over the past seven years.
Since 2004, more than 12 governments have come to power and later fell due to motions of no confidence.
After his election, he said he was open to talks with other parties willing to join his camp.
On the economic front, stakeholder have once again expressed earlier this week their grave concerns regarding the negative impacts of the political instability on the business confidence climate.
‘Merry-go-round’
“We are thinking about lost jobs, businesses closing down and eventually, French Polynesia’s citizens who are subjected to this merry-go-round for all too long”, a statement from the CGPME (General confederation of Small and Medium Businesses) said.
Ten days ago, French Polynesia’s rating by the Standard and Poor’s agency was revised from BBB- to BB+, a marking which, the agency said, reflected “the new institutional and political crisis faced by French Polynesia”.
The current situation “did not allow the efficient implementation of important structural reforms (prompted by the French government)”, a statement went on to say.
Another factor was the recent budget crisis which had ended with the vote of a truncated 2011 appropriation bill that has now been placed at the centre of a legal dispute.
Recent reports from local economic institutes confirmed that for the last quarter 2010, French Polynesia’s economy was considered as being stuck in second gear, with such features as business results and investment capacity, household consumption, employment, the construction sector and tourism arrivals all performing poorly.
Fresh electoral plan
Last month, the French government unveiled yet another reform plan in order to “stabilise” French Polynesia’s volatile political grounds, including changes to the maximum number of ministers and a 33 percent “bonus” for any first-past-the post party.
French Minister for Overseas Territories, Marie-Luce Penchard, conveyed the new document, in the form of a draft, to French Polynesia’s authorities.
The move follows a period of chronic instability since the 2004 general elections, with a dozen governments voted in and out since by a volatile Parliament when no majorities exists any longer and where political changes mostly result from circumstantial changes of alliances within parties from across the spectrum, pro-France and pro-independence included.
In the metropolitan French plan, concocted by experts who have visited French Polynesia in recent months and have already handed out reports on the French Pacific territory’s situation, it is envisaged, the electoral reform plan would take the shape of an “organic law”.
It could be tabled before the French cabinet and later submitted to the vote of French Parliament’s both Houses (the National Assembly, or lower House; and the Senate) sometime during 2011, after a consultation phase with French Polynesian parties.
Under the plan, the local assembly and therefore the number of constituencies would be maintained at 57, but the number of cabinet ministers would be limited to seven.
Under the scheme, any party that obtains most seats first past the post, would be credited by an electoral “bonus” of 33 percent of the number of seats within the new Assembly (which means 19 of the 57 seats).
‘Stabilising’ move
The system used previously was aimed a “stabilising” election results by accentuating election results and their repercussions in the makeup of the new Parliament.
It was also proposed that the much sought-after position of President (Speaker of the local Assembly) would be for not less than five years, regardless of changes of government.
This was perceived as a way of withdrawing the Speaker’s position from any future negotiations between parties seeking to oust a government.
The very popular process of tabling a motion of no confidence was also part of the reform, with, under the new proposed rules, a minimum of three thirds of the 57 local MPs required in support, as opposed to 29 MPs under the present rules.
Another mechanism introduced in the new text was the fact that only parties that would have obtained a minimum of 12.5 percent at the first round of vote would be eligible to run during the second round.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has on several occasions referred to the situation in French Polynesia as a “vast comedy” that could not last indefinitely.
The situation has also had adverse effects on the local economy, including the tourism industry, as well as investors’ confidence, prompting repeated expressions of deep concern from economic and social sectors stakeholders.
The effects have been gravely compounded by the global financial crisis.
Pacific Media Centre
