Teva Rohfritsch Photo: supplied
Three senior members of French Polynesia's ruling Tapura Huiraatira party, who resigned last week, say they may form a new party.
Teva Rohfritsch, Nicole Bouteau and Philip Schyle quit seven months before the territorial election, saying they were disappointed with President Edouard Fritch's way of running the government.
Bouteau said there was a malaise in the party, which raises the possibility of more departures, but won't threaten its overwhelming majority.
The Tapura suffered a setback in June when its three candidates running for the French National Assembly were beaten by the three rivals of the pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira.
As a consequence, Rohfritsch called for a government reshuffle last month but Fritch ruled out changing his team close to the election.
Reacting to the resignations, the Tapura asked the three to vacate their assembly seats, but they refuse, saying they will stay on as independents.
The three have not ruled out aligning themselves with other parties as they look to the future.
Bouteau resigned as tourism minister last year in protest at President Fritch retaining Tearii Alpha as a minister, despite him flouting the vaccination law.
Both Fritch and Alpha were fined for partying at a large wedding in defiance of restrictions imposed at the height of the pandemic.
In the June election, Bouteau was one of the unsuccessful Tapura candidates
Rohfritsch is a former vice-president and now a member of the French Senate.
Schyle, who earlier led the Fetia Api Party, served as Assembly president twice.