Fr. Polynesia
pp. 14-15 · Read in the full issue
New move on autonomy for Fr. Polynesia
From a Papeete correspondent A proposal that French Polynesia should have a new constitution (statut) giving the territory greater autonomy was submitted to the laws commission of the French National Assembly recently by a group of eight members of the assembly, headed by French Polynesia’s repre sentative, Mr. Francis Sanford.
The proposal was the latest move in a long series of usually unsuccess ful manoeuvres designed to force the French Government to loosen its hold on the management of affairs in French Polynesia.
The text of the proposal follows that of a resolution on internal self government adopted by French Poly nesia’s Territorial Assembly two years ago (PIM, June, p. 15).
This envisages that French Poly nesia would remain an overseas terri tory of the French Republic, but that the chief executive would be a Prime Minister elected by the Territorial As sembly, rather than a governor ap pointed by the French Government as at present. The office of governor would become that of French High Commissioner.
In a letter to the National As sembly laws commission, which ac companied the latest proposal, Mr.
Sanford and his colleagues said, “The present proposal is comparable to the constitution which was granted to the territory of the Comoro Islands [near Madagascar] some years ago and which has given satisfaction. What is good for the Indian Ocean cannot be bad for the Pacific”.
Political observers in Tahiti do not believe that the latest move will have much impact on the French Govern ment, which has made it plain that it does not want French Polynesia to have much more autonomy than it already has.
However, Tahiti’s autonomists take the view that if they keep up the pressure long enough, they will even tually get somewhere.
Meanwhile, a new political move ment has been launched in Tahiti under the name of Te Autahoeraa (The Union). Its object is to achieve an autonomy of a less drastic kind than that sought by Mr. Sanford and his colleagues.
The founders of the new party are Messrs. Charles Taufa (president), Gerald Coppenrath and Maco Tevane (vice-presidents), Frantz Vanizette (general secretary), Richard Brother-
son (treasurer), Jean-Roy Bambridge, Eric Lequerre and Jimmy Estall.
Mr. Taufa, a trade union leader, made a strong bid for the mayoralty in recent elections for the Papeete Municipal Council (PIM, June, p. 14).
The founders of Te Autahoeraa be lieve that French Polynesia should seek such autonomy as is within its means and capacities—not a form of government based on a priori ideas.
One of the chief planks in their platform is the promotion of a local elite and the Oceanisation of the pub lic service and private enterprise so that there will be “an authentic de centralisation of administrative and political decision-making”.
Te Autahoeraa is an alliance of four former member polical groups.
It plans to contest future elections.