French Polynesia's ruling Tapura Huiraatira party has been the winner in the first round of the territorial election, securing 43 percent of the vote.
Edouard Fritch Photo: RNZ / Walter Zweifel
The party led by Edouard Fritch is on track for a large majority in the 57-member assembly if it can repeat this result in the second round in two weeks.
The party coming first will get 19 seats as a bonus after which the 38 remaining seats are shared in proportion to the parties' strength.
In yesterday's election, the Tahoeraa Huiraatira party of Gaston Flosse won 29 percent and the pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira party of Oscar Temaru won 20 percent.
The other three parties standing this year failed to win at least 12.5 percent of the vote and have been eliminated.
Turnout was 61 percent.
There have been no reports of any irregularities.
In the last election five years ago, the Tahoeraa Huiraatira won 38 of the 57 seats, which included 19 seats as a bonus for being the most successful party.
