Sanford Wins In Tahiti
p. 17 · Read in the full issue
Results of the elections for French Polynesia’s Territorial Assembly, announced in June, showed a convincing win for the parties led by Territorial Deputy Francis Sanford.
M Sanford’s Front Uni won 13 seats, sympathisers of the Front Uni 3, the conservative RPR 10, and Independents 4. With supporters, M Sanford is expected to control at least 18 of the 30 seats.
The new Assembly has unanimously approved the draft Territorial Statute giving greatly increased internal autonomy. M Sanford’s personal standing as the man who brought internal autonomy to the Territory formed the basis of the election campaign of the Front Uni.
As a result of the consensus achieved on the new Statute before the elections between all local political parties and the French Government, the election campaigns were low-key affairs, with interest focused on personalities rather than issues.
Pro-independence candidates fared badly, and only managed to score 1.4% of the Tahiti vote.