3 Jan 2013

Tahiti party labels Temaru decolonisation moves illegal

5:48 pm on 3 January 2013

A small French Polynesian political party has taken issue with President Oscar Temaru's trips to the United Nations in New York, describing them as illegal.

The Porinetia Ora Party has issued a statement, saying the organic law gives the territorial government no powers in diplomatic affairs.

This comes as Mr Temaru is due to return to New York this month to continue lobbying for the territory to be re-inscribed on the UN decolonisation list.

Mr Temaru, who was in New York last month, expects to meet members of the 120-strong Non-Aligned Movement when they convene at the UN.

Porinetia Ora says while his campaign is honourable on a philosophical level, in practice it is completely irresponsible.

It says his plan will plunge the territory into misery and force the people to beg for survival with Chinese, American and Australian interests.