2018 French Polynesian legislative election

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.

2018 French Polynesian legislative election

22 April 2018 (first round) 6 May 2018 (second round)
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)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Édouard Fritch Geffry Salmon Oscar Temaru Party Tapura Huiraatira Tahoera'a Huiraatira Tavini Huiraatira Last election – 38 seats 11 Seats after 38 11 8 Seat change New 27 3 Popular vote 66,725 37,606 31,357 Percentage 48.18% 27.72% 23.11%
President before election Édouard Fritch Tapura Huiraatira President elect Édouard Fritch Tapura Huiraatira

Background

Main article: 2013 French Polynesian legislative election

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]

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]

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.

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 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
	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]

Party		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
		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)

References

1. "French Polynesia election dates approved". Radio New Zealand. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
2. "March registration for Tahiti election". Radio New Zealand International. 2018-01-18. Archived from the original on 2018-02-15. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
3. "French Polynesia's Tuihani will name new party in 2018". Radio New Zealand International. 2017-11-20. Archived from the original on 2018-02-08. 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
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.
8. "Temaru refuses to rule out Tahiti election boycott". Radio New Zealand. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
9. "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.