Tahiti opinion stoked by Flosse case

Transcript

French Polynesia's public opinion is being stoked by the French government's decision to shield the territory's president, Gaston Flosse, from the courts.

Last week, he was ordered to quit his office but Paris intervened in the judicial process and refused to deliver the sentence pronounced by France's highest court.

This has prompted an opposition politician to say that the territory is now in a banana republic.

All eyes are now on Francois Hollande who will decide Flosse's fate after he asked for a pardon.

Walter Zweifel reports.

A presidential pardon is being sought by Flosse's lawyers so that he can stay in office. 19 years of investigations and court cases concluded with France's highest court last week finding him guilty of a massive abuse of public funds. He is now set to lose office. The presidency, however, claims that because Flosse won last year's election, the judiciary has unfairly trumped democracy. For the opposition's Oscar Temaru, this is plainly wrong.

OSCAR TEMARU: There is no democracy in a country where there is no justice, there is no democracy in a country ruled by another country.

Another opposition assembly member, Richard Tuheiava, is stunned that there can even be argument that weighs up public opinion expressed in a vote versus a decision by the courts. The French High Commissioner, Lionel Beffre, has been sitting on the court decision for a week and by not delivering it to Flosse, in his palace across the road, the ruling is not official and enforced. And although Flosse doesn't have the ruling on his desk, Mr Beffre accepted his bid to be pardoned. He argues that it is convenient to hold on to the judgement until Francois Hollande has made his decision. Yves Conroy, who lodge the initial complaint against Flosse, has now referred Mr Beffre to the police. Mr Conroy says it's not up to the High Commissioner to decide if he wants to enforce the law.

YVES CONROY: Once he is informed by the appeal court in Papeete he has to remove him from office immediately. He has not done that.

This is echoed on local radio by Teva Rohfritsch, the leader of the opposition Atia Porinetia party.

TEVA ROHFRITSCH: This was a simple administrative step on a judgment that had been made. In addition, this touches on the separation of power. The judiciary has sentenced Mr Flosse and now we have to carry this through and then he can lodge all the appeals he wishes. In any case, this doesn't give the French state a good image in this issue.

While the Flosse camp is adamant, he should be left alone a spokesman for the opposition Tavini Huiraatira Party, Moetai Brotherson, says the French action has raised eyebrows.

MOETAI BROTHERSON: The people who currently behind bars, they are really starting not to understand why justice has been so expeditive in their case for things that were minor compared to what Mr Flosse has been condemned for.

Mr Brotherson says he hopes this episode will be over in days and the pardon bid thrown out.

MOETAI BROTHERSON: We are pretty confident that the Socialist Party is still strongly rooted in the value of justice. So it's only a matter of time, we think, we hope, before the French president takes the right decision.

It is not known if or when Mr Hollande will make a decision. For Flosse in the meantime it's business as usual.