Christina
Persico RNZ Pacific Senior bulletin
editor
President Moetai Brotherson says French
Polynesia’s future cannot remain solely a French domestic
matter.
Brotherson has addressed the United Nations
Special Committee on Decolonisation, or C-24, which was
established in 1961 by the UN General Assembly as its
subsidiary body devoted to the issue of
decolonisation
He said the French territory proposes
what he called a simple programme of work.
This
includes a comprehensive programme of information and
education on the options available; a UN visiting mission to
hear the people directly; and an agreed pathway towards a
democratic act of self-determination, “ultimately allowing
the Mā’ohi people to express their choice freely through a
referendum – no predetermined outcome, no unilateral
imposition”.
Brotherson told the committee he favours
dialogue over litigation, but dialogue cannot mean
indefinite waiting.
Brotherson has previously reiterated
his support for greater political sovereignty for French
Polynesia, telling PMN in March that economic
development and resilience must come first and that the
pathway toward greater sovereignty must be gradual and
carefully managed.
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He told the UN that French
Polynesia is not asking for “yet another bilateral
discussion” within the French institutional framework, where
France sets the rules.
“We are not asking France to
decide our future; we are asking France to stop preventing
us from discussing how we will decide it.
“Our future
cannot remain solely a French domestic matter.
“We are
asking for a true decolonisation dialogue grounded in
international law, involving France, the institutions and
political forces of French Polynesia, with the United
Nations associated with the process.
“The UN role is
to guarantee that our right to self-determination is
respected.”
Brotherson said the Pacific region knows
the consequences of leaving political questions unresolved
for too long.
“The recent history of Kanaky New
Caledonia reminds us that dialogue must come before
violence, not after it. This is neither a comparison nor a
threat. It’s a responsibility to preserve
peace.”
Brotherson said when French President Emmanuel
Macron took office, French Polynesia had already been
inscribed on the UN decolonisaiton list for four
years.
“When he leaves office, 14 years will have
passed. Fourteen years during which France could have chosen
dialogue.”
France’s representative at the C-24, Jay
Dharmadhikari, said Paris favours a constant direct dialogue
between state bodies and the Polynesian
territory.
“This dialogue emerges through regular
contact at all levels. The state is fully committed to and
engaged in these,” he said.
Dharmadhikari – whose
words were translated in the UN meeting room – said French
Polynesia has a great deal of political autonomy under the
French Constitution.
“French Polynesia … has many
competencies in almost all domains. More specifically, this
means that Polynesian people have full autonomy to determine
the public policies within the archipelago, within the
fields of the economy, education, health, tourism, work, and
culture.
“Only the key competencies, such as defence,
regalian competencies remain the remit of the French
government.”
He said the head of the French state and
government will conduct consultations with all Polynesian
stakeholders, “taking into account messages that have been
conveyed and the demands expressed”.
France retains
control over defence, currency, and aspects of foreign
policy.
The C-24 draft
resolution on French Polynesia’s independence called on
France “to initiate a dialogue with the Government of French
Polynesia in order to facilitate rapid progress towards a
fair and effective self-determination process, under which
the terms and timelines for an act of self-determination
would be agreed, and to consider developing, in close
cooperation, a constructive programme of work for the
Territory”.
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