A referendum on the new

constitution of France The current Constitution of France was adopted on 4 October 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic , and it replaced the Constitution of the Fourth Republic of 1946 with the exception of the preamble per a 1971 d ...

was held in

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

on 28 September 1958 as part of a wider referendum held across the

French Union The French Union () was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the " French Empire" (). It was ''de jure'' the end of the "indigenous" () status of Frenc ...

. The new constitution would see the country become part of the new

French Community The French Community () was the constitutional organization set up in October 1958 between France and its remaining African colonies, then in the process of decolonization. It replaced the French Union, which had reorganized the colonial em ...

if accepted, or result in independence if rejected. It was approved by 64.40% of voters.

Campaign

Some members of the Democratic Rally of the Tahitian People (RDPT), which had been removed from power by Governor in April 1958, backed a 'no' vote. Government officials restricted campaigning by opponents of the new constitution, and in some outlying islands, voters were unaware that 'no' was an option.Pouvanaa and 22 Others Arrested
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', November 1958, pp19–20

Results

The result saw 64% of voters vote in favour of the constitution. However, ''

Pacific Islands Monthly ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', commonly referred to as "PIM", was a magazine founded in 1930 in Sydney by New Zealand born journalist R.W. Robson. Background ''Pacific Islands Monthly'' was started in Sydney in 1930. The first issue ran in August ...

'' noted that it was thought by some that 'no' would have won had the RDPT been allowed to campaign properly.

Aftermath

Following the referendum, there was civil unrest in the island of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

, with RDPT supporters starting fires with molotov cocktails on 10–11 October. As a result of the violence, RDPT leader

Pouvanaa a Oopa Pouvana'a a O'opa (May 10, 1895 – January 10, 1977) was a Tahitian politician and advocate for French Polynesian independence. He is viewed as the ''metua'' (father) of French Polynesia's independence movement. Pouvanaa served as a Deputy i ...

and 22 supporters were arrested. Oopa was subsequently convicted of arson and exiled to France. The conviction was quashed by the Court of Revision in 2018 after new evidence showed that French police had fabricated evidence or extracted it by threats of violence, and that the Governor had reported Pouvanaa's arrest before the fires had even been set.

References

{{French Polynesian elections 1950s in French Polynesia 1958 in the French Union

Referendums in French Polynesia Constitutional referendums