9 Oct 2007

French Polynesia President in Paris for talks

10:29 am on 9 October 2007

French Polynesia's pro-independence President, Oscar Temaru, has left for Paris, where he is scheduled to meet France's Head of State, Nicolas Sarkozy.

The visit comes days before the French government's secretary of state for overseas territories, Christian Estrosi, will table a bill to put an end to three years of instability in French Polynesia.

Last week, the legislative assembly of French Polynesia endorsed a motion against the bill, which would eventually mean an amendment to French Polynesia's 2004 autonomy status.

It would also shorten the term of the current Assembly and trigger snap elections, possibly before the end of January 2008.

But before leaving Tahiti, Mr Temaru denied the controversial bill would be on the agenda of his talks with Mr Sarkozy.