24 Dec 2007

Forum won't send monitors to Tahiti despite botched 2004 polls

4:06 pm on 24 December 2007

The Pacific Islands Forum says it won't be sending monitors to next month's French Polynesian election despite the irregularities seen during the last general election.

In 2004, the French supreme court found that the irregularities on Tahiti in the May election were such that it annulled the result in the biggest constituency.

The court ruling came six months after the election and was made when the political turmoil had led to three men claiming simultaneously to be the legitimate president.

A by-election was then held for 37 of the assembly's 57 seats.

Despite the problems experienced during that poll, the Forum won't be sending observers.

The Forum has sent monitors to the recent elections in the Marshall Islands and Nauru.

French Polynesia is an associate member of the Forum.