29 May 2013

Tahiti decolonisation sponsors labelled miserable

1:46 pm on 29 May 2013

There is continued criticism from the French Pacific of the six countries sponsoring the United Nations resolution on French Polynesia's decolonisation, which the General Assembly adopted by consensus.

The Porinetia Ora Party has issued a statement ten days after the vote in New York, saying the six Pacific countries in question are poverty-stricken.

They are Solomon Islands, Nauru, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Samoa and Timor Leste.

It says it is that misery which the party has to reject, adding the economic reality in French Polynesia is such that independence is impossible.

Porinetia Ora also wants an immediate referendum on self-determination, saying the issue has poisoned Polynesia's political debate for too long.

A leading New Caledonian politician, Philippe Gomes, also remarked on the resolution's sponsors, saying Solomon Islands showed troubling determination given its internal issues that made an international intervention necessary.