A French Polynesian politician says his proposal for a life-time ban for elected members with criminal convictions is aimed at restoring confidence in politics.
Moetai Brotherson leaves the French National Assembly after France's new parliament sat for the first time in June 2017. Photo: AFP PHOTO / GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT
A pro-independence member of the French National Assembly, Moetai Brotherson, has tabled a bill to that end in Paris, saying recent low election turnout is in part linked to mistrust because politicians who have misused public funds can still stand.
In French Polynesia's elections in April, convicted politicians, including President Edouard Fritch, want to win an assembly seat.
But Mr Brotherson said with his bill, he had no particular person in sight.
"It's absolutely not an attempt to target someone. It's more a way to send a strong message to any future candidate to any election that things have changed and people expect more from their politicians," said Mr Brotherson.
The politician with the most convictions in the French system, Gaston Flosse, who is on a temporary ban, still hopes to get a Supreme Court approval to stand in April.
Listen to interview with Moetai Brotherson on Dateline Pacific