5 Jun 2013

France urged to reply to Tahiti plebiscite request

3:18 pm on 5 June 2013

French Polynesia's ruling Tahoeraa Huiraatira Party wants to break France's silence over the demand to hold a self-determination referendum as soon as possible.

One of the party's members of the French National Assembly, Edouard Fritch, has lined up two questions to the foreign minister and the overseas territories minister.

Last week's overwhelming vote in the territorial assembly for such a plebiscite has gone without official comment from Paris.

The push for a referendum follows last month's UN General Assembly decision to reinscribe the territory on the UN decolonisation list, which has been denounced by both Paris and the Tahoeraa.

The French ministers will have two months to answer the parliamentary questions.

The Tahoeraa wants a referendum to eliminate the opposition's quest for indigenous rights from the political debate and for the UN to accept that a majority of voters in last month's election backed parties in favour of the current autonomy arrangement.

After the Tahoeraa's election last, Paris said it would work with the democratically elected politicians.