The independence list led by the former president of French Polynesia Oscar Temaru has won the second round of territorial elections, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on Twitter.
The Tavini huiraatira list wins the territorial elections in French Polynesia and will have to elect the future president of the archipelago. With Jean-François Carenco, we congratulate Oscar Temaru and Moetai Brotherson for their victory.
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) May 1, 2023
With 44.2% of the vote against 38.5% for the list of outgoing President Edouard Fritch, according to the provisional results published by the High Commission, the separatists obtained an absolute majority of the 57 seats in the Territorial Assembly and have a stable majority to govern the South Pacific community for five years. This victory places them in particular in a position of strength vis-a-vis the French State to negotiate a process of decolonization and a referendum of self-determination.
“Polynesians have voted for change”, reacts Gérald Darmanin
“The Polynesians voted for change. The Government takes note of this democratic choice”, reacted Gerald 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”. The third list in attendance, that of the former autonomist vice-president Nuihau Laurey, won 17.1% of the votes, according to the count published by the High Commission on its website.
The Tavini huiraatira party of Oscar Temaru, which is due to present MP Moetai Brotherson for the presidency of the future government on May 10, benefited from a large part of the votes carried over from the parties eliminated in the first round of the ballot on April 16, which all campaigned against the incumbent president. His list came in first with 34.9%, against 30.46% for the autonomist list of Mr. Fritch and 14.53% for the other autonomist list of Nuihau Laurey.
High inflation in Polynesia
Clearly beaten, Edouard Fritch, 71, first paid the price for his government’s poor communication during the coronavirus epidemic. Covid. Despite a rather positive economic balance sheet, the high inflation suffered by Polynesia in 2022 (8.5%) has also been attributed to it by part of the public, because it has introduced a new VAT to preserve social security. local.
Moetai Brotherson, 51, campaigned on the abolition of this tax and more generally on purchasing power. He spoke little about independence and was able to seduce beyond this electorate, capitalizing on the rejection of Edouard Fritch.
The independence party had already won the three seats of deputies devolved to Polynesia in the legislative elections of June 2022, inflicting on the separatists the most severe defeat in their history in this election. Set up in 2013 to put an end to the political instability that has been shaking Polynesia since 2004, the voting system grants a high bonus to the list that comes first, which guarantees it three-quarters of the seats.