2018 French Polynesian legislative election

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| ← 2013 | 22 April 2018 (first round)
6 May 2018 (second round) | 2023 →

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All 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
| Party  | Leader  | Vote %  | Seats  | +/–

|
|
|
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| Tāpura Huiraʻatira | Édouard Fritch | 48.18  | 38  | New
| Tāhōʻēraʻa Huiraʻatira | Geffry Salmon | 27.70  | 11  | −27
| Tāvini Huiraʻatira | Oscar Temaru | 23.12  | 8  | −3

This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

President before | President elect

|

Édouard Fritch
Tāpura Huiraʻatira | Édouard Fritch
Tāpura Huiraʻatira

Politics of French Polynesia

* President of France

Emmanuel Macron

* High Commissioner of the Republic

Éric Spitz

* President of French Polynesia

Moetai Brotherson

* Vice-President of French Polynesia

Chantal Galenon

* Council of Ministers
* Assembly of French Polynesia

President: Antony Géros

* Political parties
* Elections

Parliamentary: 2013, 2018, 2023

* Referendums: 1940, 1958
* Administrative divisions

* Other countries

* v
* t
* e

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 in a landslide.

## Background

[edit]

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 to 26 March 2018.[2]

## Electoral system

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Former President of French Polynesia Gaston Flosse was not 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

[edit]

Party| First round| Second round| Seats| +/–
Votes| %| Votes| %
| Tapura Huiraatira| 53,795| 43.04| 66,730| 49.18| 38| New
| Tahoera'a Huiraatira| 36,754| 29.41| 37,591| 27.70| 11| –27
| Tavini Huiraatira| 25,891| 20.71| 31,378| 23.12| 8| –3
| Te Ora Api o Porinetia| 4,606| 3.69| | 0| New
| E Reo Manahune| 2,503| 2.00| | 0| New
| Popular Republican Union| 1,441| 1.15| | 0| New
Total| 124,990| 100.00| 135,699| 100.00| 57| 0
Valid votes| 124,990| 98.32| 135,699| 98.34|
Invalid/blank votes| 2,134| 1.68| 2,286| 1.66|
Total votes| 127,124| 100.00| 137,985| 100.00|
Registered voters/turnout| 206,670| 61.51| 206,496| 66.82|
Source: Haut-Commissariat

### By section

[edit]

Percentages  Section  | Te Ora Api o Porinetia  | Tavini Huiraatira | E Reo Manahune  | Tahoera'a Huiraatira | Popular Republican Union | Tapura Huiraatira

|
|
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|  |  |  |  |
Windward Isles 1 | 4.50 | 18.23 | 2.76 | 30.32 | 1.25 | 42.94
Windward Isles 2 | 3.61 | 20.47 | 1.77 | 31.36 | 1.31 | 41.47
Windward Isles 3 | 4.42 | 34.38 | 2.05 | 20.26 | 1.69 | 37.20
Leeward Isles | 1.56 | 19.25 | 1.54 | 27.18 | 0.69 | 49.78
West Tuamotus | 6.28 | 12.24 | 1.94 | 30.06 | 0.88 | 48.60
Gambier Islands and East Tuamotus | 5.45 | 8.31 | 0.98 | 39.13 | 0.53 | 45.60
Marquesas Islands | 2.03 | 10.73 | 1.78 | 37.92 | 0.60 | 46.93
Austral Islands | 1.57 | 14.89 | 1.96 | 40.87 | 0.37 | 40.35
Source: Haut-Commissariat Archived 23 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine
Votes  Section  | Te Ora Api o Porinetia  | Tavini Huiraatira | E Reo Manahune  | Tahoera'a Huiraatira | Popular Republican Union | Tapura Huiraatira

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|  |  |  |  |
Windward Isles 1 | 1,323 | 5,362 | 813 | 8,917 | 367 | 12,629
Windward Isles 2 | 1,249 | 7,083 | 613 | 10,851 | 455 | 14,350
Windward Isles 3 | 952 | 7,414 | 441 | 4,368 | 365 | 8,022
Leeward Isles | 302 | 3,720 | 298 | 5,252 | 133 | 9,619
West Tuamotus | 350 | 682 | 108 | 1,675 | 49 | 2,708
Gambier Islands and East Tuamotus | 245 | 374 | 44 | 1,760 | 24 | 2,051
Marquesas Islands | 115 | 608 | 101 | 2,148 | 34 | 2,658
Austral Islands | 68 | 647 | 85 | 1,776 | 16 | 1,753
Source: Haut-Commissariat Archived 23 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine

## See also

[edit]

* List of members of the Assembly of French Polynesia (2018–2023)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "French Polynesia election dates approved". Radio New Zealand. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
2. ^ a b c d e f g "March registration for Tahiti election". Radio New Zealand International. 18 January 2018. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
3. ^ "French Polynesia's Tuihani will name new party in 2018". Radio New Zealand International. 20 November 2017. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
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. 9 December 2017. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
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. ^ a b "Flosse's Tahiti election ban upheld". Radio New Zealand International. 25 January 2018. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.

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