Flosse's Push To Join Forum A Hot Potato

Some say this is a historic landmark: early in March, the final steps to enact a new autonomy status for French Polynesia were completed.

What was until then described as a "French Overseas Territory" is now to be called a "French Overseas Country".
Since 1999, authorities in Pape'ete have indicated they were willing to join the Pacific Islands Forum family and get, as a first step, an observer status.

But the granting of this Forum observer status could prove to be a hot potato for the regional organisation, simply because French Polynesia, even with its new autonomy status, is not clearly on the road to probable independence.

The Forum is aware of this: during a special meeting of Pacific leaders in Auckland last month, one of the recommendations was for the regional organisation to "open up" to French and United States Pacific territories that have not yet been granted observer status.
The advice was to keep an " open approach" towards non-independent Pacific territories and see this as a "useful step to enhance regional inclusiveness and co-operation.

"New criteria for participation should be developed, grounded in the region's interests," the report advised.
During the meeting, the Forum while stressing that in essence it remained "a government to government body" and therefore "its authority depends on the sovereignty of members", it acknowledged the "growing view that the Forum needs to better connect with Pacific communities that do not have a voice in the Forum process".

Up until now, the Forum's set of criteria to grant observer status revolves around the notion of a "clear path towards independence or self-government".

In other words, these are designed to accommodate non-self-governing territories poised to become independent sovereign countries. But French Polynesia says this is not their case.

In fact, put in the local context in French Polynesia, autonomy means just the opposite of independence.

Autonomy and independence

French Polynesia's President Gaston Flosse's "Tahoera'a Huiraatira" party describes itself as a pro-autonomy party, whereas Oscar Temaru's Tavini Huiraatira is preaching for independence.

Back in the 1970s, Flosse created his party and the notion of autonomy precisely as what he saw as a remedy against independence. Temaru on the other hand sees independence as an end in itself.

By the same token, Flosse sees and claims autonomy is an end in itself.

New Caledonia has been a Forum observer since 1999, but its emancipation process under the Nouméa accord includes the notion of independence with a referendum between 2013 and 2018. The Nouméa Accord contains all the ingredients required to immediately meet the Forum's criteria for an observer status.

It did get the status as early as 1999, one year after the signing of the accord and weeks after it formed its first ever "territorial" government.

The procedure was pretty straightforward, but some would say New Caledonia had obtained its observer status on a silver plate.
But apart from half-hearted speeches made along the lines of a "sense of belonging to the Pacific family", not much has happened in regards to regular exchanges with the small Pacific islands neighbours.

French Polynesia's autonomy status is different, firstly because it is now openly declared that independence is no longer an option.
Whenever asked, Flosse does not make any bones about saying that the new autonomy Act, in fact, is anything but "a first step towards independence".

"Does this (status) mean we want to go towards independence? Certainly not. French Polynesia wants to remain French. It is French, it is more French than Polynesian," Flosse told the French Senate.

In other words: French for the funds, Polynesian for identity and maximum leeway.

One way to explore, Flosse said earlier, would be for the Forum to accept an intermediary status for French Polynesia, that of a "non-independent French overseas collectivity".

In the past few years, French Polynesia's presence and assistance has been building towards regional countries such as Fiji, Tonga and more recently Niue and Vanuatu, in terms of assistance and relief after the destructive passage of cyclones.

French Polynesia insists the assistance is being extended for the sake of "Polynesian solidarity" or "Pacific brotherhood" depending on which country is being assisted.

Co-operation agreements have also emerged with neighbouring Cook Islands, especially in terms of telecommunications and television broadcasting.

Pacific family vs Polynesian solidarity

Critics say Flosse since last year and with the implicit support of President Jacques Chirac, now aims to make himself and incidentally French Polynesia the champion of French presence in the Pacific region.

It is a theory that is far from well-received in New Caledonia, especially when the two French dependencies do not particularly like each other, to say the least. It took a lot of efforts and a personal phone intervention from Chirac to convince New Caledonia's strongman Jacques Lafleur to fly to French Polynesia and attend a "France-Oceania" meeting, chaired by Chirac in Pape'ete in July 2003.
Pacific islands leaders and territories' heads of states and governments also attended that meeting.

The bone of contention was very much personal between the two leaders: Lafleur's reluctance to shake hands with Flosse, a man he had not met or spoken to for the past twenty years.

In August last year, a few days after Chirac's visit, Flosse also earmarked around US$1 million as his territory's contribution to a French Pacific Islands cooperation fund.

The fund was until last year completely driven from Paris.

Flosse told a press conference that the new commitment was in line with directions given by President Chirac at the "France-Oceania" meeting, when the French Head of State boosted the French fund (which is dedicated to the development of the Pacific Islands) from US$2.5 million in 2003 to US$5 million yearly.

In a bid to "revitalise" relations between France and the Pacific region, Chirac also implied that the management of the fund, embodied by a 10-member "steering committee", would be handed over to the French Pacific territories' "executives" in French Polynesia (2 board members), New Caledonia (2 board members) and Wallis and Futuna (1 member), on a revolving chairmanship basis.
The other five board members will be from metropolitan France.

Since January 1, US$5 million fund is chaired by the executive of French Polynesia until the end of 2005.
Flosse, however, denied suggestions that its increased contribution to the Pacific islands could be a way of buying French Polynesia's observer status at the Pacific Islands Forum.

"Not at all. We have already helped the Pacific Islands in the past, there's nothing new... and even if we were not admitted to the Pacific Islands Forum as an observer, we would still carry on helping the Pacific Islands.

"We feel we have an obligation to help those countries," he told a press conference last August.

Flosse said French Polynesia was justified in claiming a role in the region.

"We believe we are part of the region," although he acknowledged that French Polynesia's new autonomy status, which rules out the possibility of independence, could mean that the Forum would need to revise its rules.

Enlarging on the general outcome of Chirac's visit to the Pacific and the meeting with Pacific leaders, Flosse said that this had allowed for a "fresh start" in French relations with the region.

"This has also allowed us to definitely turn the page on the (French Pacific) nuclear tests chapter, in a region that is widely dominated by Australia and New Zealand."

As to French Polynesia's observer status at the Forum, a Forum officials committee could leave in the next few weeks on a fact-finding mission, probably after the general elections, which are set to take place on May 23.

Pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira Party president, Oscar Temaru said he was very keen to meet the Forum delegation to give his side of the story and also ask for French Polynesia (Tahiti Nui) to be re-listed in the group of non-autonomous countries.

New Forum Secretary-General Greg Urwin said recently the rest would be a political decision by Forum leaders, although he admitted there was still room for closer relations between the predominantly English-speaking Forum member countries and the French Pacific.

€ Patrick Decloitre is the Editor of Oceania Flash an e-mail news service that aims at promoting regular information and better understanding between the French-speaking (Francophone) Pacific and the English-speaking Pacific.