Gaston Flosse during 2013 election campaign Photo: RNZI Walter Zweifel
The leader of French Polynesia's Tahoeraa Huiraatira party Gaston Flosse has blamed the French president Emmanuel Macron for being barred from next month's election.
Last week, France's highest court rejected Flosse's bid to be allowed to stand, upholding the Tahiti court ruling which declared him ineligible for office until next year because of two corruption convictions.
Flosse said as a former French minister he knew how things were done, alleging that the president and the justice ministry didn't want Flosse to return and gave orders accordingly.
At the weekend Tahoeraa party congress in Papeete attended by an estimated 7'000 supporters, the election candidates were presented led by a former minister Geffry Salmon.
Flosse said should the Tahoeraa win the election he would become Mr Salmon's advisor.
The list now also includes Angelo Frebault, who until last week was the spokesman of the union movement that held a general strike to force the government to shelve its plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.
Flosse earlier questioned whether there was any justice in Tahiti if he was barred from standing but not another former president Gaston Tong Sang who was also given a suspended jail sentence for corruption.