French Polynesia elects the

Assembly of French Polynesia The Assembly of French Polynesia (french: Assemblée de la Polynésie française, Tahitian: Te apo'ora'a rahi o te fenua Mā'ohi) is the unicameral legislature of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic. It is located at Plac ...

(''Assemblée de la Polynésie française''), the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

on the territorial level. The Assembly of French Polynesia has 57 members, elected for a five-year term by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

in multi-seat

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

. French Polynesia has a

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually refe ...

, which means that there are two dominant political parties, with extreme difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party. In June 2011, the electoral law will likely be changed again, with a two-round proportional system including a bonus of a third of the seats for the winning list in the second round, with the rest of the seats distributed proportionally; the electoral threshold to advance to the second round will be 12.5%.

Last elections

2004 elections

The elections in 2004 produced a close result leading to unstable majorities in the assembly. In addition, the election was invalidated in districts in Tahiti and Moorea, causing by-elections in 37 out of 57 seats.

2007 elections

On September 14, 2007,

Oscar Temaru Oscar Manutahi Temaru (born November 1, 1944) is a French politician. He has been President of French Polynesia (''président de la Polynésie française''), an overseas collectivity of France, on five occasions: in 2004, from 2005 to 2006, from ...

, 63, was elected president of French Polynesia for the 3rd time in 3 years (with 27 of 44 votes cast in

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

). He replaced former President

Gaston Tong Sang Gaston Tong Sang (born August 7, 1949 in Bora Bora) is a French politician and is the former President of French Polynesia. He served terms as President of French Polynesia from November 2009 until April 2011, from April 2008 until February 2009 ...

, who lost a

no-confidence vote A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

in the 31 August

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

2008 elections

In the elections on January 27 and February 10, 2008, the To Tatou Ai'a (''Our Land'') party led by

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Bora Bora Bora Bora (French: ''Bora-Bora''; Tahitian: ''Pora Pora'') is an island group in the Leeward Islands. The Leeward Islands comprise the western part of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, which is an overseas collectivity of the French R ...

, won 29 seats out of the 66 possible but not the overall majority. The Union for Democracy ''( Union pour la Démocratie)'' which included

's pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira gained 20 seats. A surprise coalition between old enemies

Gaston Flosse Gaston Flosse (born 24 June 1931) 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 receiv ...

( Tahoera'a Huiraatira, 10 seats) and Temaru saw once again the election of Flosse as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of French Polynesia.

References

{{France-election-stub

Last elections

2004 elections

2007 elections

2008 elections

See also

References