Mayor of Papeete
p. 33 · Read in the full issue
urged a "no" vote against De Gaulle
The Mayor of Papeete, Mr.
Tetua Pambrun, joined forces
with Mr. Francis Sanford’s radi cal Te Ea Api party in late March to campaign for a “no” vote in the French referendum on April 27.
And in the referendum the “no” vote triumphed. After 11 years in office, President de Gaulle resigned.
It was the first time that Mr.
Pambrun, a moderate, had associated himself with Mr. Sanford’s party in an election campaign since he ousted Papeete’s long - time conservative mayor, Mr. Alfred Poroi, about three years ago.
The Te Ea Api, in alliance with a radical party led by Mr. John Teariki, has a majority of seats in French Polynesia’s Territorial Assembly. For the past couple of years, the alliance has repeatedly urged that French Polynesia should be given internal self-government.
Although it would appear to an outside observer that a “yes” vote in the referendum would result in greater self-government for the French provinces and territories, the Te Ea Api has been campaigning against it with the slogan: “ ‘No’ at the referendum equals ‘yes’ to self government”.