French Polynesian legislative election, 2018

French Polynesian legislative election, 2018
57 seats in the Assembly of French Polynesia ; 29 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	61.51% (first round, 4.56pp); 66.82% (second round, 5.97pp)
President before election; Édouard Fritch ; Tapura Huiraatira	Elected President ; TBD;

Last updated April 02, 2019

Legislative elections were held in French Polynesia on 22 April and 6 May 2018.^[1] On 22 April 2018, voters cast their ballots in the first round of the election to the Assembly of French Polynesia.^[2] A second round was held on 6 May 2018 for the three political parties that exceeded 12.5 percent of the vote in the first round.^[2] The new Tapura Huiraatira party emerged as the largest in the Assembly, winning 38 of the 57 seats.

French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic and the only overseas country of France. It is composed of 118 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over an expanse of more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. Its total land area is 4,167 square kilometres (1,609 sq mi).

The Assembly of French Polynesia is the unicameral legislature of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic. It is located at Place Tarahoi in Papeete, Tahiti. It was established in its current form in 1996 although a Tahitian Assembly was first created in 1824. It consists of 57 members who are elected by popular vote for five years; the electoral system is based upon proportional representation in six multi-seat constituencies. Every constituency is represented by at least three representatives. Since 2001, the parity bill binds that the number of women matches the number of men elected to the Assembly.

Tapura Huiraatira is a political party in French Polynesia. It was founded on 20 February 2016 by members of the Rally for an Autonomous Majority, a parliamentary coalition in the Assembly of French Polynesia. It is chaired by Édouard Fritch, the President of French Polynesia. At its first congress, 38 Polynesian mayors were among those who attended.

Background

The Tahoera'a Huiraatira party, an anti-independence party led by Gaston Flosse, previously won 38 of the 57 seats in the Assembly in the 2013 general election.^[2] However, the governing Tahoera'a Huiraatira has been plagued by infighting and internal splits since 2013.^[2] Some former Tahoera'a Huiraatira members set up a new political party, which has since merged with the only other anti-independence party in the Assembly.^[2] Notably, Assembly Speaker Marcel Tuihani quit Tahoera'a Huiraatira in June 2017, and set up a rival party.^[3]

Tāhōʻēraʻa Huiraʻatira is a political party in French Polynesia.

Gaston Flosse is a French politician who has been President of French Polynesia on five separate occasions. He is currently a member of the Senate of France and has been a French junior minister under Jacques Chirac. He received sentences for corruption, which are under appeal.

All French Polynesian political parties must alternate between male and female candidates to encourage a gender balance among legislative candidates.^[2]

The French High Commissioner of French Polynesia René Bidal announced the vote registration for the territorial election will be open from 12 March to 26 March 2018.^[2]

René Bidal is the High Commissioner in French Polynesia. Earlier, he was the prefect of the departments of Eure (2014–16), Pyrénées-Orientales (2011–14), and Hautes-Pyrénées (2010–11). He had previously served in a variety of positions in Eure-et-Loir (1986–89), Landes (1992–93), Finistère (1993–96), Aveyron (1996–98), Guingamp (1998–2000), Charente-Maritime (2000–03), Hauts-de-Seine (2003–06), Béthune (2006–08), and Rhône (2008–10).

Electoral system

The 57 members of the Assembly of French Polynesia are elected by a proportional multi-member list of two rounds, with a majority premium. Polynesia is a single constituency whose communes make up of eight sub-divisions called sections, each with a majority premium of 1 to 4 seats according to their population for a total of 19 premium seats.

Party-list proportional representation family of voting systems

Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems emphasizing proportional representation (PR) in elections in which multiple candidates are elected through allocations to an electoral list. They can also be used as part of mixed additional member systems.

The majority bonus system (MBS) is a form of semi-proportional representation used in some European countries. Its feature is a majority bonus which gives extra seats or representation in an elected body to the party or to the joined parties with the most votes with the aim of providing government stability.

Each list presents 73 candidates in the eight sections. Each list is composed alternately of a candidate of each sex. In the first round, the list having received an absolute majority of votes in its section is awarded the majority bonus, then the remaining seats are distributed proportionally among all the lists having crossed the electoral threshold of 5% of the votes according to the method of voting. If no list obtains more than 50% of the votes cast, a second round is held between all the lists having collected more than 12.5% of the votes, those having collected between 5% and 12.5% being able to merge with the lists that have been maintained. The leading list then gets the majority bonus, and the remaining seats are distributed proportionally under the same conditions.^[4]

The electoral threshold is the minimum share of the primary vote which a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to any representation in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ways. For example, in party-list proportional representation systems an election threshold requires that a party must receive a specified minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or in a particular electoral district, to obtain any seats in the legislature. In multi-member constituencies using preferential voting, besides the electoral threshold, to be awarded a seat, a candidate is also required to achieve a quota, either on the primary vote or after distribution of preferences, which depends on the number of members to be return from a constituency.

The lists may be reimbursed for part of their campaign costs if they reach the threshold of 3% of the votes cast in the first round, provided that they comply with accounting transparency requirements and legislation on the format of documents.^[5]

Electoral sections of French Polynesia
Section	Seats
Section	Proportional	Majority bonus
Windward Isles 1	13	4
Windward Isles 2	13	4
Windward Isles 3	11	4
Leeward Islands	8	3
West Tuamotus	3	1
Gambier Islands and East Tuamotus	3	1
Marquesas Islands	3	1
Austral Islands	3	1

Party participation

In December 2017, France's ruling party, En Marche, which was founded by French President Emmanuel Macron, announced that it would contest the French Polynesian legislative election in 2018 for the first time.^[6] Efforts at forming a coalition involving En Marche and other known political figures in the territory, under the name Here Fenua, reportedly failed in February 2018.^[7]

In February 2018, Oscar Temaru, leader of Tavini Huiraatira, said he will not rule out his party boycotting the election.^[8]

	Leader	Ideology
Tahoera'a Huiraatira	Geffry Salmon	Anti-independence, liberal conservatism, gaullism
Tavini Huiraatira	Oscar Temaru	Polynesian independence, social democracy
Tapura Huiraatira	Édouard Fritch	Anti-independence, liberalism, autonomy
Te Ora Api o Porinetia	Marcel Tuihani	Anti-independence
E Reo Manahune	Tauhiti Nena	Autonomy
Popular Republican Union	Jérôme Gasior	Autonomy

Banned candidates

Former President of French Polynesia Gaston Flosse will not be allowed to stand for election in April 2018. He is not allowed to hold public office due to two convictions for public corruption in 2014 and 2016.^[9] Despite Flosse's claims he can stand in the election, based on advice given by his lawyers,^[1] an election court in Tahiti upheld the election ban against Flosse in January 2018.^[9]

Results

Party		First round		Second round
Party		Votes	%	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Tapura Huiraatira	53,790	43.04	66,725	48.18	38	New
	Tahoera'a Huiraatira	36,747	29.40	37,606	27.72	11	–27
	Tavini Huiraatira	25,890	20.72	31,357	23.11	8	–3
	Te Ora Api o Porinetia	4,604	3.68
	E Reo Manahune	2,503	2.00
	Popular Republican Union	1,443	1.15
Total		124,975	100	135,688	100	57	0

Valid votes		124,975	98.31	135,688	98.33
Blank votes		1,091	0.86	1,128	0.89
Invalid votes		1,056	0.83	1,006	0.79
Total		127,122	100	137,990	100
Registered voters/turnout		206,662	61.51	206,520	66.82
Source: Haut-Commissariat (first round, second round)

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References

1 2 "French Polynesia election dates approved". Radio New Zealand . 12 October 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "March registration for Tahiti election". Radio New Zealand International . 2018-01-18. Archived from the original on 2018-02-15. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
↑ "French Polynesia's Tuihani will name new party in 2018". Radio New Zealand International . 2017-11-20. Archived from the original on 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
↑ Loi organique n° 2004-192 du 27 février 2004 portant statut d'autonomie de la Polynésie française (1) .
↑ Dépenses de campagne Haut-Commissariat de la République en Polynésie française
↑ "France's ruling party to contest Tahiti's 2018 election". Radio New Zealand International . 2017-12-09. Archived from the original on 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
↑ "En Marche coalition attempt fails in Tahiti". Radio New Zealand . 2 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
↑ "Temaru refuses to rule out Tahiti election boycott". Radio New Zealand . 21 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
1 2 "Flosse's Tahiti election ban upheld". Radio New Zealand International . 2018-01-25. Archived from the original on 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2018-02-19.

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[rnz1-1] 1 2 "French Polynesia election dates approved". Radio New Zealand . 12 October 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2018.

[rnzi-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "March registration for Tahiti election". Radio New Zealand International . 2018-01-18. Archived from the original on 2018-02-15. Retrieved 2018-02-19.

[rnzijune17-3] "French Polynesia's Tuihani will name new party in 2018". Radio New Zealand International . 2017-11-20. Archived from the original on 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2018-02-19.

[4] Loi organique n° 2004-192 du 27 février 2004 portant statut d'autonomie de la Polynésie française (1) .

[5] Dépenses de campagne Haut-Commissariat de la République en Polynésie française

[radionz4-6] "France's ruling party to contest Tahiti's 2018 election". Radio New Zealand International . 2017-12-09. Archived from the original on 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2018-02-19.

[7] "En Marche coalition attempt fails in Tahiti". Radio New Zealand . 2 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.

[RNZ2-8] "Temaru refuses to rule out Tahiti election boycott". Radio New Zealand . 21 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.

[rnzi3-9] 1 2 "Flosse's Tahiti election ban upheld". Radio New Zealand International . 2018-01-25. Archived from the original on 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2018-02-19.

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