3 Mar 2005

French Polynesia caretaker ministers tour islands to defer ouster

11:48 am on 3 March 2005

French Polynesia's caretaker presidency has detailed a visit by several ministers to the Tuamotu islands which left the assembly short of members to elect a successor to President Gaston Flosse.

The ministers, including one who was appointed less than two weeks ago, travelled to a total of nine islands to inaugurate new infrastructure projects.

A statement says more than 30 million US dollar worth of projects were opened during the tour.

This comes two days before the assembly is to attempt for a second time to elect a president.

Mr Flosse's Tahoeraa Huiraatira Party named a candidate for the contest but it boycotted the election.

The election comes after the party suffered a setback in last month's Tahiti by-election and was then voted out in a no-confidence vote nearly two weeks ago.