path independence

F. Polynesia's unavoidable path independence

From a Tahiti correspondent

When French Polynesia’s deputy to the French National Assembly, Francis Sanford, closed the door to further talks with France in February and called for Polynesian independence, there was a rapid flurry of messages from Paris and a suecession of Tahitian leaders took the plane to Paris to discuss the new political statutes.

Sanford’s refusal to talk any further was contained in a letter in early February to Tahiti’s Governor Schmitt. Sanford told the governor that French government policy seemed to have just one objective in overseas territories to keep their peoples under Paris custody. And so he saw only one way of escape independence. He called for a referendum on independence to be held throughout French Polynesia with voting restricted to locallyborn persons, those who could eventually obtain Polynesian nationality.

In view of local disappointment over the new statutes proposed by Paris last year, Sanford said he saw no further point in talking.

The Polynesian autonomists have

been insisting on reformed statutes as proposed by the late Senator Pouvanaa a Oopa, with the public service responsible to a fully elected local executive, instead of having a public servant appointed by Paris as governor and top execu live.

Sanford’s ultimatum brought ins tant assurances from Paris that sig nificant changes would be made to the proposed statues, and to talk on this basis two leaders flew off to Paris on behalf of the United Front for Autonomy Franz Vanizette and the new senator, Daniel Millaud.

In repudiating the Paris statute they claimed it tended to deprive Polynesia of its natural riches to the benefit of outside interests approved by the Paris government and that the text included special measures in tended to neutralise all local politi

cal opposition.

In Paris on March 1, Millaud and Vanizette, accompanied by fellow autonomist Henri Bouvier, were re ceived by Mr Michel Poniatowski, Minister for the Interior, and Mr

Olivier Stirn, his junior Minister for Overseas Territories. Statute amendments from the Autonomy Front were discussed in subsequent working sessions and the minister agreed that new elections for the Territorial Assembly should be held to give the Polynesians a new chance to approve the changes.

Then speedily, by March 10, Francis Sanford was on his way to Paris to add the final commas to the amended text. By his earlier “bang ing on the table” and refusing dialogue, Sanford was credited with having provoked the prompt change of heart in Paris.

Sanford took the plane on the un derstanding that the spirit of Pouvanaa’s proposals had been ac cepted. He pointed out that on his election as Polynesian deputy in 1967 he sought a referendum on autonomy and then last year re signed his seat to be overwhelmingly re-elected on the autonomist plat form, He said he was prepared to ac cept autonomy now, but he insisted that the unavoidable path of French Polynesia led to independence.

News from Paris in late March in dicated that the French government was about to dissolve the Polynesian Territorial Assembly, which the autonomists claimed no longer rep resented their full strength. Elec tions would then be held six weeks after this dissolution and the new as sembly would be asked to approve the new statutes as amended be tween the Autonomist Front and French cabinet ministers. The Tahi tians have thus fought for and gain ed greater concessions from Paris than the Caledonians.

Norfolk's knockback

The United Nations Committee on Decolonisation, the so-called Committee of 24, has advised the Norfolk Island Council that it is unable to take up the council’s case against possible incorporation into the Commonwealth of Australia.

The committee’s cable said that such a step would require a decision of the UN General Assembly, from which the committee derives its mandate.

One idea which was floated on the island following receipt of the UN knockback was that Australia itself, being a member of the Committee, could raise the matter.