Tahiti prepares for "after Chirac" relations with French state

Sep 24, 2007 15:23:18

Tahitipresse) - French Polynesia Government President Gaston Tong Sang signed a protocol agreement in Paris Tuesday that prepares for Tahiti's "after Chirac" relations with the French state. The agreement was signed during a meeting with French Overseas Minister François Baroin six weeks before the April 22 first round of the French presidential election to decide the two candidates that will face each other in the May 6 runoff. Tong Sang described the agreement as a document paving the way for future agreements between Tahiti and France and allowing for very rapid discussions with a new government in France. While the ultimate winner of the presidential election is far from known, what is known is that Jacques Chirac announced Sunday night that he will not be a candidate in the first round. Tong Sang will be meeting in Paris Wednesday with the leader of the four main candidates in the first round of voting, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who is also leader of today's conservative governing party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Tong Sang is an official with the main party in Tahiti backing Sarkozy's presidential candidacy, the Tahoeraa Huiraatira (People's Rally for the Republic of Polynesia) party led by Gaston Flosse. But despite Tong Sang's backing of Sarkozy, Tahiti has no guarantee he will be France's next president. The other leading contenders are Ségolène Royal, the Socialist party candidate, François Bayrou, the Union for French Democracy (UDF) center party candidate, and Jean-Marie Le Pen, the National Front ultra-conservative party candidate. In Tahiti, Ms. Royal is supported by the Union for Democracy (UPLD) coalition of Oscar Temaru. He is the leader of Tahiti's biggest independence party, Tavini Huiraatira (Independent Front for the Liberation of Polynesia) and was French Polynesia government president until Dec. 26 when he was succeeded by Tong Sang following a vote of no confidence. Bayrou is supported by the centrist, pro-autonomy Fetia Api party led by French Polynesia Assembly Speaker Philip Schyle and a second centrist, pro-autonomy party, No Oe e Te Nunaa, which is led by former assembly member Nicole Bouteau. Speaking of the protocol agreement signed Tuesday, Tong Sang said, "The objective is to not lose time because in preparation for the 2008 finance law, the government must finalize its projects around the month of July. So time is limited," he said, indicating he was anxious to begin talks quickly, resulting in agreements by sector or overall with the new French government. But, Tong Sang further indicated, such talks would be only the beginning of what he ultimately hopes will be a legislative program of financial support from the French state for French Polynesia similar to the program France adopted following the end of nuclear testing in 1996. Tuesday's protocol agreement formally commits the French state to continuing its support for French Polynesia within the framewo