Transcript
WZ: Gaston Flosse, at the age of 88, is coming out of the political wilderness after being banned from office for five years. For his re-entry he chose Papeete where he presented himself to be registered as a voter. Being a high profile politician this was a media event but it turned out days later that the mayor rejected his registration. In a letter to Flosse, Michel Buillard, who used to be in Flosse's party, explained that the application was flawed on all counts.
KH: What was wrong?
WZ: Flosse was never known to have lived in Papeete - his place of abode was always to the east, in Pirae. Mr Buillard considered the office used by Flosse's Tahoeraa Huiraatira not to be his proper address for the past six months. And he also said Flosse had made no financial contribution to the town. Flosse says in a subsequent message, Mr Buillard admitted to being off the mark but Mr Buillard maintains that Flosse hasn't registered properly. A final decision is pending.
KH: Why would Flosse choose Papeete and not Pirae?
WZ: Flosse said he was done with Pirae. However, it can also be argued that Pirae was done with Flosse. Flosse was the mayor there for 35 years until 2000 but since 2014, the mayoralty has been held by his erstwhile deputy Edouard Fritch. Now after Flosse lost the presidency over two corruption convictions, Mr Fritch took over the top job but the two fell out. So it is a tall order trying to take on Mr Fritch. It is also of deeper significance. Pirae was the heartland of the Tahoeraa Huiraatira party which Flosse had founded but after the election last year, the Tahoeraa has shrunk and has four times fewer seats than Mr Fritch's Tapura Huiraatira party. So Flosse can hardly hope to emerge as a winner there.
KH: Aren't both Fritch and Flosse involved in a case with the Pirae commune?
WZ: Yes, both are appealing a conviction for abusing public funds. They were fined for making the Pirae council pay for the water supply to Flosse's residence. Flosse as former mayor set it up, and Mr Fritch as subsequent mayor didn't stop it, thereby incurring the local council hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses over the years. So there is this unusual situation of the council seeking reimbursement from Mr Fritch. Interestingly, Flosse can only try to stand in next year's election because this case is yet to be heard in the appeal court. In the criminal court he was given a two-year ban to hold office.
KH: Are there ructions in Mr Fritch's Party over this?
WZ: No, he is safe no matter what the court rules. He will at worst get fined. Politicians in French Polynesia fear ineligibility more than anything. Fines for corruption can be less than the sum misspent and voters regularly re-elect politicians despite their corruption convictions. There is however tension over a high-profile member in Mr Fritch's party. Nicole Sanquer no longer sits with the party in the assembly but has opted to sit as an independent. To date Mr Fritch and his team have declined to expel her despite telling her that she cannot be both inside and outside of the party. In the local election in March, she will run under her own banner. We are yet to see how the ruling Tapura Party will accommodate that.
