Edouard Fritch Photo: supplied
France's highest administrative court has ruled that French Polynesia's president Edouard Fritch can retain the presidency, if his party wins next year's territorial election.
The decision was announced after the French prime minister Elisabeth Borne had sought a clarification about his eligibility.
The law states that the president's position can only be held for two terms.
Fritch had served for four years from 2014 until 2018 after replacing Gaston Flosse who was forced to relinquish the top job because of a corruption sentence.
In 2018 Fritch was re-elected for a five-year term.
The court found that his first four years as president weren't a full term, and he was therefore allowed to seek another one.
The two politicians subsequently fell out and Fritch formed the Tapura Huiraatira Party, which in 2018 won 38 of the assembly's 57 seats.
Nine of its candidates had convictions but theirs weren't of a severity to bar them from public office.