Pacific / French Polynesia

Tahiti due for fresh French Senate election in May

14:39 pm on 4 March 2015

The French High Commission in French Polynesia has confirmed that a fresh election of the territory's two members of the French Senate will be held on May the 3rd.

Teura Iriti and Vincent Dubois of French Polynesia's ruling Tahoeraa Huiraatira Party Photo: AFP

Teura Iriti and Vincent Dubois were elected last September but last month the French constitutional court annulled their election.

It had found that a march by hundreds of supporters of the ruling Tahoeraa Huiraatira Party to the polling station amounted to undue pressure on the electoral college.

The party leader, Gaston Flosse, has said the same two candidates will be standing in May.

However, rifts have emerged within the ruling party since Flosse lost his office because of a corruption conviction that included a suspended jail sentence.

His successor as president, Edouard Fritch, has had major policy differences with Flosse in recent months and reports from Tahiti say other Tahoreaa candidates may be nominated.

Ms Iriti is an assembly member and a former minister while Mr Dubois, who is Flosse's son-in-law, is a lawyer.