Pacific Islands Development Program, East-West Center With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai‘i
French Polynesia
Territorial assembly passed supporting resolution last week
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, June 3, 2013) – The French Polynesian president, Gaston Flosse, has asked France to organize a referendum on self-determination.
The request has been made in a letter to the president, Francois Hollande, after the French Polynesian assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution for such a plebiscite last week.
The move follows last month’s United Nations General Assembly decision by consensus to reinscribe French Polynesia on the UN list of territories to be decolonized.
Both France and the new majority in the French Polynesian assembly wanted the territory to remain off the list.
The assembly has also passed a resolution asking the UN to revisit its decision and rescind the...