PAPE’ETE (Pacnews) — Tahiti’s new president appears to have lost one vote in the French Polynesia Assembly only three days after taking office.
Rebel politician Hiro Tefaarere announced his withdrawal from the pro-autonomy platform.
French Polynesia President Gaston Tong Sang took over from Oscar Temaru after a 31-26 vote in the Assembly.
But Tefaarere’s stormy reaction to the role four outer islands politicians played in the distribution of ministerial posts announced last week appears to be only the first of two problems for Tong Sang.
The second problem has been created by Mautaina Taki, who is due to replace Tong Sang’s vice president, Temauri Foster, in the Assembly.
When Foster served as minister in the Temaru government, Taki took his Assembly seat with Temaru’s UPLD, or Union for Democracy, majority coalition.
When the opposition initially threatened earlier this year to get a vote of no confidence passed in the Assembly, Foster had to resign his Temaru government ministerial post to return to his seat in the Assembly to give the UPLD what could have been a critical vote.
Taki was the reason for the Foster maneuver because she was second on Foster’s electoral list of candidates in the May 23, 2004 general election for the 57 Assembly seats.
And, complicating things even further, that 2004 electoral list was in support of Tong Sang’s party, Tahoeraa Huiraatira, or People’s Rally for the Republic of Polynesia, led by former French Polynesia President Gaston Flosse.
Now that Tong Sang has made Foster vice president the mayor on the Tuamotu atoll of Napuka once again must replace Foster in the Assembly.