Tahiti defection gives Fritch majority

Transcript

The French Polynesian government has finally secured enough support in the territorial assembly to no longer be a minority administration.

An opposition member has just joined the camp led by Edouard Fritch, which gives him a slim majority as the budget looms.

Mary Baines asked Walter Zweifel about the latest development.

WALTER ZWEIFEL: An assembly member from the Marquesas islands, Joelle Frebault, issued a statement to say that she decided to join the majority led by the president Edouard Fritch. She said she did this for the sake of stability and to give the government the numbers to pass the budget. By her leaving the pro-independence Union For Democracy, she did, technically speaking, not join a majority but give Mr Fritch a majority - a first for him in about a year. The opposition has shrugged off the move and the assembly president says it's the 21st switch of an assembly member this term.

MARY BAINES: How come Mr Fritch no longer had a majority, given that he has been president since last year?

WZ: He did have a majority when he assumed office in September last year, but he lost much of his support because of the circumstances of when he came to power. He became president when his mentor, Gaston Flosse, was forced to quit office over a corruption conviction. Flosse had difficulties letting go of the presidency and thanks to his overwhelming influence within the Tahoeraa party, he could subtly undermine Mr Fritch. This took the form of for example a government commission refusing to endorse a government decision. It also led to the unusual situation of Flosse getting hired as an assembly advisor by a loyalist. This meant that he was still inside the machinery although he was banned from office by France's highest court.

MB: How did the party survive all this?

WZ: It's quite interesting. For the longest time Mr Fritch maintained that he was a Tahoeraa member elected by the party Congress. He was alone in that position apart from Flosse himself. But as Flosse controlled the party machinery, he evicted some members while others resigned. The attrition has been substantial. In the election two years ago, the Tahoeraa had won 38 of the 57 seats but with the split its strength has dwindled to less than half. And in the government, Mr Fritch, was the only Tahoeraa member left. In September, Mr Fritch announced he would be forming his own party but to date that hasn't happened. The Tahoeraa has survived but is much diminished.

MB: So what is the situation for Mr Fritch now?

The surprise defection by Joelle Frebault has given him the numbers that he can pass the budget. He had indicated earlier this year that he would consider - as he put it - his job done if he failed to pass a budget. The fear of further instability has now diminished. The irony of the situation is that France changed the electoral system for the 2013 election to give the winner a huge majority. What nobody thought of though was that a dominant bloc like the Tahoeraa would ever split into two rival sides.