Legislative elections were held in French Polynesia on 23 May 2004 to elect members of the Assembly. In a surprise result Oscar Temaru's pro-independence progressive coalition formed Government with a one-seat majority in the 57 seat parliament, defeating the conservative party led by Gaston Flosse (see also List of political parties in French Polynesia). On October 8, 2004, the Gaston Flosse led opposition party succeeded in passing a censure motion against the Government. This provoked a political crisis, and controversy about whether the national

government of France The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

should use its exceptional power to call for new elections in a local government, in case of a grave political crisis.

Timeline

23 May 2004:

Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

s for the

Assembly of French Polynesia The Assembly of French Polynesia (, ; Tahitian: ''Te apoʻoraʻa rahi o te fenua Māʻohi'') is the unicameral legislature of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic. It is located at Place Tarahoi in Papeete, Tahiti. It wa ...

(''Assemblée de la Polynésie française''), the territorial assembly of

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

, held. A progressive coalition led by pro-independence Oscar Temaru wins 26 (27 respectively) seats and forms a coalition with 3 (2 respectively) autonomist members to form a Government with a majority of one (see also List of political parties in French Polynesia). The conservative party led by Gaston Flosse has 28 seats. 10 June 2004: Former President, Gaston Flosse, and his conservative party, Tahoeraa Huiraatira, stayed away from the presidential (''Le président de la Polynésie française'') election, thus invalidating it, as a three-fifths quorum was required. He subsequently lost one defector to Oscar Temaru. 14 June 2004: Oscar Temaru elected President (''Le président de la Polynésie française'') (when a simple majority quorum was required), gaining 30 out of 57 votes. 5 October 2004: Two motions of censure tabled in the

(''Assemblée de la Polynésie française''). One from Gaston Flosse's Tahoeraa Huiraatira party, and one from a new group, Te Ara, that includes three former members of Flosse’s party. 9 October 2004: A motion of censure tabled by the conservative Tahoeraa Huiraatira, was adopted by 29 votes out of 57. The motion was proposed by opposition leader Gaston Flosse after Oscar Temaru ordered an audit of the previous government, which was led by Gaston Flosse. A second censure motion was not voted upon. 12 October 2004: Tahoeraa Huiraatira, endorses its President, Gaston Flosse, as its official candidate for the Presidency in the French administered territory of

(''Le président de la Polynésie française''). The President of the

(''Le président de l'Assemblée de la Polynésie française''),

Antony Géros Antony Daniel Teva Géros (; born 22 July 1956) is a French Polynesian politician and current President of the Assembly of French Polynesia. He has previously served as a Cabinet Minister, and three times as Vice-President of French Polynesia. Si ...

, from Oscar Temaru's coalition government, insisted that the parliament should meet on October 25 to elect a new government president (''Le président de la Polynésie française''). However, this date was against the advice of the French High Commissioner of the Republic in French Polynesia (''Le Haut-Commissaire de la République en Polynésie française'') Michel Mathieu who stated in written letters that the Assembly of French Polynesia (''Assemblée de la Polynésie française'') is required to vote on a new government president (''Le président de la Polynésie française'') within 15 days of the passage of a censure motion. The third Vice president of the Assembly of French Polynesia, Lana Tetuanui from Gaston Flosse’s party, called for the Assembly to sit on October 20, 2004. 15 October 2004: Second request by Oscar Temaru for fresh elections denied by French minister for overseas Territories (''la Ministre de l’Outre-mer'') Brigitte Girardin. 16 October 2004: More than 20,000 people march through

Papeete Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeʻetē'', pronounced ; old name: ''Vaiʻetē''Personal communication with Michael Koch in ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific ...

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

, the main island of

, in support of Oscar Temaru demanding new elections. Demonstrations also occur across French Polynesia. 19 October 2004: French Polynesia’s caretaker government president, Oscar Temaru, has asked the Papeete administrative court (''Le Tribunal administratif de la Polynésie française'') to suspend, then cancel the October 9 adopted censure motion. 20 October 2004: The

meets, but is unable to elect a new president (''Le président de la Polynésie française'') as there is not a required quorum in attendance due to a boycott of members supporting Oscar Temaru. 22 October 2004: The

meets to elect President (''Le président de la Polynésie française''). Simple Majority required. Gaston Flosse was re-elected (''Le président de la Polynésie française'') by a one-vote majority and sworn in immediately during a parliamentary session boycotted by caretaker President Oscar Temaru. The parliament elected Flosse with 29 of 57 votes; the 28 pro-independence members boycotted the vote.

, the president of the Assembly of French Polynesia (''Le président de l'Assemblée de la Polynésie française''), did not participate in Friday’s session, and also described Flosse’s election Friday as an "election of the president of the Tahoeraa Huiraatira", which is a reference to Flosse’s pro-autonomy and anti-independence party. Geros said that Monday, October 25, is the only legitimate date for the parliament to elect a government president following the censure motion. 23 October 2004: a

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

(French national supreme administrative court) judge rejected two petitions from Tahiti to suspend the October 9 censure motion that toppled French Polynesia President (''Le président de la Polynésie française'') Oscar Temaru’s majority coalition government. 26 October 2004: Tensions remain high in French Polynesia as the Leadership remains in doubt. The Legislative Assembly failed to sit on Monday, October 25. Assembly Speaker (''Le président de l'Assemblée de la Polynésie française''),

, failed to turn up and chair the sitting he himself had scheduled. Gaston Flosse, who was elected President (''Le président de la Polynésie française'') by an assembly sitting on October 22, attempted to enter the Presidential palace on the weekend but was met by closed gates. 15 November 2004: The Council of State, judging on a request from Gaston Flosse, cancels the May elections in the

Windward Islands The Windward Islands are the southern, generally larger islands of the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean islands or the West Indies. Located approximately between latitudes 10° and 16° N and longitudes 60° and 62° W, they extend from D ...

-circonscription () for the reason that the neutrality of election officials was not observed in one of the communes, which, given the small difference of vote counts, may have altered the electoral results. 13 February 2005:

By-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

s for the

are held in the

-circumscription ()(Governmental site)
/ref> The pro-independence-coalition wins 30 seats: Part of the pro-independence-coalition is the Union for the Democracy (''Union pour la Démocratie'') with Oscar Temaru's Tavini Huiraatira (''People's servant'') which wins 27 seats and the Alliance for a New Democracy (''Alliance pour une Démocratie Nouvelle'') which wins 3 seats. The Conservative coalition (consisting of one party only), the pro-autonomy, anti-independence Tahoera'a Huiraatira (''Popular Rally''), wins only 27 seats. 3 March 2005: Oscar Temaru elected President of French Polynesia (''Le président de la Polynésie française'') for the second time.

Results

References

External links

* {{French Polynesian elections Elections in French Polynesia

Legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results