30 Sep 2014

Tahoeraa wins Tahiti's French Senate seats

6:09 am on 30 September 2014

French Polynesia has elected the two candidates of the ruling Tahoeraa Huiraatira Party as the territory's members of the French Senate.

The choice was made by an electoral college of just under 700, made up of assembly members, mayors and local councillors.

The two new Senators are Iriti Teura and Vincent Dubois, who is a lawyer and a son-in-law of the party leader, Gaston Flosse.

The pro-independence party's Richard Tuheiava failed in his bid to be re-elected.

Earlier, Wallis and Futuna confirmed Robert Laufoaulu as the territory's sole member of the Senate.

He won 68 percent of the votes to defeat his Socialist challenger.

The French Senate is now dominated by the centre-right and includes for the first time two politicians of the National Front.