PARIS (Oceania Flash) — French Polynesia’s President Gaston Flosse was “on the whole satisfied” after he held meetings this month in Paris with most of the top members of the new right-wing French government, French Polynesia’s Office of the President said on Wednesday in a statement.
Flosse has been in Paris for the past two weeks, where he has caught up with top members of the newly elected French government, including French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Home Affairs Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and Overseas Minister Brigitte Girardin.
He also had a long interview with French President Jacques Chirac, who was re-elected last month at France’s top post.
Speaking after a final interview with Girardin, Flosse said the main achievements of his Paris tour were regarding the extension of the initial 10-year “reconversion” fund for French Polynesia.
The fund was set up in 1996 after French nuclear tests in the Pacific came to an end.
The aim of such a fund was to provide equivalent funding to what army presence and activity had until then generated in terms of revenue.
The monies, which were to have ceased to flow in 2006, were to be invested in French Polynesia’s future, with a priority for infrastructure and sector development and diversification tools.
Earlier this month, Flosse said he had obtained assurances from Chirac that the fund would no longer have the 2006 deadline.
“On the whole, the results are rather positive. Regarding the (fund), there are no problems.”
He also mentioned a possible future autonomy status for French Polynesia, a subject he touched during interviews with Chirac.
“We have to get going. A first meeting is scheduled for mid-July and our lawyers should come up with a draft version. And then we’ll all have a look at it together.”
A first attempt to change French overseas territories status into that of overseas countries failed early 2000, when the French Congress, a special gathering of the bicameral National Assembly, could not meet as scheduled to amend the French Constitution on the relevant provisions.
