A leading French Polynesian opposition politician has called on the public prosecutor to make a public statement about claims suggesting that the judiciary has been manipulated by the ruling party.
Jacqui Drollet, who is a former vice-president, has written an open letter to the prosecutor after another assembly member, Gaston Flosse, claimed that his Tahoeraa Huiraatira Party had saved a politician from having to serve several months in jail.
Mr Flosse made the comment in the assembly last week while addressing Hiro Tefaarere who has been threatening to switch sides and quit supporting the ruling coalition.
Mr Drollet says he is shocked at the statement which suggests that the Tahoeraa has intervened in the judicial process.
He has called on the public prosecutor to refute in public the claims made my Mr Flosse and to open a case for alleged insult by Mr Flosse.
Mr Drollet says failing to do so would establish that the judiciary has been subject to politics and amount to a violation of the constitution.
