The French president, Francois Hollande, says he will wait to decide on a request by French Polynesia's president, Gaston Flosse, to be pardoned.
Speaking in Mayotte, Mr Hollande says the judiciary has not made all its decisions about Flosse yet.
Last week, Flosse appeared in the Court of Appeal in Tahiti asking for his sentence to be wiped.
The Tahiti court says it will decide next week whether he can stay in office.
His lawyers argue that the court should not go against the voters' will, pointing to last year's election which his party won.
Last month, Flosse was stripped of his offices by France's highest court, which upheld his conviction in a massive corruption case.
The French government, however, refused to serve the notice to make it official and Flosse immediately appealed both for the sentence to be dropped by the Tahiti court and for Mr Hollande to pardon him.
Mr Hollande says the decisions reached by the judiciary should be respected, adding he will decide after that.
Gaston Flosse Photo: AFP
