The President of Tahiti Nui - Polynesia, Oscar Manutahi Temaru, has reacted yesterday to statements made by Joseph Kahia, Mayor of Ua Pou. Indeed, in a speech made on Monday in the presence of Secretary of State, Christian Estrosi, Joseph Kahia proposed a direct partnership of the Marquesas archipelago with France. The government, which speaks of "fraud", called people to gather for a protest march next Saturday.
At the inauguration of the City Hall of Ua Pou, which was attended by Secretary of State for Overseas Christian Estrosi, Mayor Joseph Kahia announced his desire to make a new direct "Marquesa French-owned community, Marquesas, in direct relation with France."
The President of the government, Oscar Manutahi Temaru, has vehemently denounced "an act of banditry inadmissible" organized by the state. "There was a secret meeting in The Marquesas where some mayors and Christian Estrosi have developed this outrageous idea. We are not fools," said Oscar Manutahi Temaru. "Marquesas do not belong to Kahia and Estrosi, they belong to us, this is our country and this is an deliberate attempt to divide our population. It is a shame and a scandal, unworthy of a Republic like France in the 21st century."
Leon Lichtle, minister of agriculture and also Mayor of Ua Huka (Marquesas archipelago), is outraged by such behavior: "There are 15000 inhabitants of the Marquesas in Tahiti, I do not want to see any animosity between Tahitians and Marquisiens."
A March is Organized:
The President, Oscar Manutahi Temaru, has called on the population, also all the political parties and associations, to participate in a march next Saturday. The procession will leave at 8 a.m. The mayor of Faa'a (west coast of Tahiti) and stage Pater (East Coast) to reach stele Pouvanaa a Oopa, in the heart of Papeete.
To reinforce this event, Oscar Manutahi Temaru announced that a petition is circulating in all the islands to request the reinstatement of French Polynesia on the UN list of countries to be decolonized; only "remedies", according to him, against the "neocolonial" attitude of France. "We want the international community to have an eye on what's happening with us," he said.
Official Tavini Huiraatira-FLP Marquesas including those in the South have expressed their stupefaction and their dismay that some mayors, including that of the island of Ua pou, speak on behalf of their people and their children for this unfathomable behavior to negotiate something that does not belong to them with France.
The method is not fair because on the one hand the population did not have its say and secondly the mayor no longer has the same potential election as in the past given the election results obtained with the recent legislation. If the Marquesas have language and culture, the Secretary of State for Overseas can not claim to be the protector.
The Marquesas are 4000 km from Tahiti, 18000 km apart from France. To say that this land is a www.land of France is absurd, they ignore the murderous history of colonization of the archipelago by France since 1842…The appeal of the Tavini Huiraatira Marquesan is the gathering of Marquisiens to be more responsible for the future of their islands.
In conlusion , even a pro-Tahoeraa blog editor , Le Bop , shares his concerns : ''we learn, finally, that Mr Estrosi will create over the head of the Country, "Marquesan Province," french President Sarkozy and the State will deal directly with it, ignoring the partnership with the Country.' Here, it's much more serious, try to divide and conquer, by wanting to impose, then " to force municipalities to raise against the country, '' the Marquesas against Tahiti and installing the ferments of a civil war in which we try to keep away since 2004'' said Le Bop, editor of Politita.