The leader of French Polynesia's ruling Tahoeraa Huiraatira Party, Gaston Flosse, has lashed out at party colleagues ahead of this week's assembly debate on a revised budget.
Mr Flosse says the outer island MPs, including the vice-president,
Temauri Foster, have been constantly pressuring President Gaston Tong
Sang.
He describes the MPs as millstones for the government and that their priorities are to obtain maximum personal benefits by buying their voters with taxpayer's money.
The outburst came after an assembly debate during which Mr Flosse said he would only vote for the revised budget if allocations sought by Mr Foster were dropped.
The island MPs, who switched sides in December to oust Oscar Temaru on
condition that Mr Flosse not be given the presidency, now say they may
review their stance and work towards another change of government.
They also say they may seek a dissolution of the assembly - a call echoed by the opposition which has been holding weekly rallies for early fresh elections.
Territorial elections are unlikely to be imminent as France and its
overseas electorates will elect a new president in April and May as well as a new national assembly in June.
The rift within the Tahoeraa comes less than three week's before the
scheduled election of a new assembly president in Tahiti, with Mr
Flosse pushing his son-in-law Edouard Fritch whose candidacy is being
resisted by the Tahoeraa's coalition partners.
