The French Polynesian president, Gaston Flosse, has warned that his party will call for a boycott should a self-determination referendum be organised under the auspices of the United Nations.
Speaking in the Marshall Islands, he says he is not against such a referendum but it has to be organised by France after an internal French debate with a representative of the Polynesian people.
French Polynesia was returned to the UN list of territories to be decolonised in May shortly before the French Polynesian assembly elected Mr Flosse to lead a new government.
He says his predecessor, Oscar Temaru, lied about the issue when he spoke to the Pacific Islands Forum last year.
French Polynesia's Assembly has formally asked France to organise such a vote as soon as possible but while Paris has largely ignored the request, the assembly president says a date for such a referendum could be set by the end of the year.