10 May 2012

National Front contests French Polynesia seat

5:49 pm on 10 May 2012

France's National Front has put forward a candidate in French Polynesia in a bid to win one of the territory's three seats in the French National Assembly.

The candidacy of Eric Minardi brings to more than 30 the number of people in Tahiti standing in the June poll.

Walter Zweifel reports.

"Eric Minardi's bid for a seat in Paris has been prompted by the party's gains in the first round of the French presidential election when Marine Le Pen won more than 5,000 votes. His party says it's neither left nor right but made up of patriots helping those who are excluded and united around the eternal values of the French republic. In his electorate, he will compete against among others a former president, Gaston Tong Sang, three former anti-independence government ministers and the pro-independence education minister, Tauhiti Nena."