France's constitutional court has ruled that two former candidates for French Polynesia's seats in the French Senate are ineligible to stand for office for failing to provide proper campaign accounts on time.
Teiva Manutahi Photo: RNZI Walter Zweifel
The two are Gustave Heitaa, who wanted to stand again in next month's re-run of the Senate election, and Teiva Manutahi, who last year became the territory's first ombudsman.
In last year's poll, neither of them won more than one percent of the votes cast by the 700-strong electoral college.
Mr Manutahi stood last year after successfully fending off a legal challenge by the French High Commission which objected to him wanting to combine his position as ombudsman with a political career.
There are now seven candidates left for two Senate seats in Paris.
