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Gaston Flosse (left) and Amuitahiraa o te Nunaa Maohi Party deputy chair Bruno Sandras at a press conference on July 16, 2024.
photo: Polynesian One
French Polynesia’s veteran politician, Gaston Flosse, 93, announced last week his resignation as chairman of the Amuitahiraa o te Nunaa Maohi party.
Flores, known locally as the “Old Lion”, served as President of French Polynesia several times over more than three decades.
He was once known as a strongman for France’s Pacific territories and served as French government minister of state in the government of then-Prime Minister Jacques Chirac in the second half of the 1980s, responsible for administering the overseas territories.
He was also President of French Polynesia, and after Chirac’s election as president, nuclear testing at Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls was resumed (until 1996).
The resumption of the competition sparked riots in the capital, Papeete.
photo: AFP
He and his party (then called Tahuiraa Huiraatia) had strongly advocated that French Polynesia remain part of France, with “autonomous” status, but in the past few years he has shifted to supporting a new status of “association” with France.
Flowers said he was resigning for health reasons, but he still believed he was healthy and able to continue contributing to the party.
“Health is the priority now. The doctor had told me to stop taking medication at least four days a week and now he is telling me I have to stop taking it completely. But other than that, I feel good physically and mentally,” he told reporters.
September 28 was designated as the day for the election of the new president. One of the candidates was his wife, Pascal Heidi-Flos.
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