![[Flag]](../images/p/pf}tahh.gif)
Last modified: 2018-10-27 by ivan sache
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Tahoeraa Huiraatira (People's Rallying; website) was established in 1977 by
Gaston Flosse (b. 1931), who has been since then constantly re-elected
president of the party.
In 1958, Flosse joined in 1958 UT-UNR (Union tahitienne-Union pour la
nouvelle République), the local branch of the Gaullist movement, which
he presided in 1971 following the resignation of Rudy Bambridge.
Succeeding UT-UNR, Tahoeraa Huiraatira was subsequently closely
associated with RPR, Jacques Chirac's party, Flosse being one of the
funding members of RPR.
Flosse served as President of French Polynesia on 1984-1987, 1991-2004,
for 4 months in 2004-2005, for 2 months in 2008, 2013-2014). He was also
Representative at the French National Assembly (1978-1982, 1993-1997)
and Senator of French Polynesia (1998-2014).
Considered by his supporters as the "father of modern Polynesia", Flosse was criticized by his opponents for his authoritarianism and involvement in several corruption affairs that yielded him the nicknames of "Gaston I", "Gaston the Great", "Papa Flosse" or "Old lion". Some of his warmest supporters eventually became fierce opponents who "betrayed" him, expelling him form the presidency, usually for short periods: Alexandre Léontieff (President of French Polynesia from 1987 to 1991) and Gaston Tong Sang (President for 8 months in 2006-2007, for 9 months in 2006-2009, and in 2009-2011). His rivalry with the independentist leader, Oscar Temaru, also contributed to the political instability of French Polynesia in 2004-2011.
In September 2014, Flosse had to resign from the presidency of French
Polynesia after having been convicted in one of the several cases that
punctuated his long career. He favored the election of Édouard Fritch,
his "spiritual son" and former son-in-law, as his successor, but
carried on pulling the strings and ruling political life.
In May 2015, Fritch officially supported two dissident candidates
against Flosse's candidates in a partial election to the Senate. The
dissidents were expelled from Tahoeraa Huiraatira but were easily
elected at the first round of the election; this was interpreted as the
beginning of the decline of Flosse's total control over French Polynesia.
At the same time, the Tapura Huiraatira group was established at the
Assembly of Polynesia by 16 dissidents from the Tahoeraa Huiraatira
group, which lost the majority to the alliance made by Tapura
Huiraatira, A ti’a Porinetia and a dissident from UPLD. On 12 January
2016, Tapura Huiraatira and A ti’a Porinetia groups merged into the
Rassemblement pour une majorité autonomiste group (RMA), which allowed
Fritch to get rid of Flosse's influence. Transformed in 2016 in a
political party, Tapura Huiraatira won 38 out of the 57 seats of the
Assembly of Polynesia during the territorial election, leaving only 11
seats (27 lost) to Tahoeraa Huiraatira and 8 (3 lost) to Tavini
Huiraatira, Temaru's party. Fritch was re-elected President of French
Polynesia on 16 May 2018, increasing his power and speeding up Flosse's
decline.
[France Inter, 15 March 2016]
Ivan Sache, 9 August 2018
The flag of Tahoeraa Huiraatira (photo,
photo,
photo) is orange with the party's emblem in the center.
The flag was changed recently, the emblem being derived from the former one.
The main element of the emblem is the fei, a strong symbol of unity
and rallying, as well as of Polynesian life.
Tumu fei, a banana tree specific to Polynesia, went with Polynesians
in their ancestral journeys, since it is easily grown by shoot cuttings
and its abundant fruits are a staple food. As opposed to the usual
banana tree, tumu fei growths straight to the sky; it is more
resistant because it is deeper rooted in the soil, and can be identified
through its luxury canopy and its very green and shining leaves.
Tari fei (the bunch of bananas) proudly raises in the center of the
plant; it symbolizes the united people - every fei is firmly attached
to the central stem (tira, or mast). The numerous, squeezed fruits can
also be seen as Tahoeraa Huiraatira's militants, united around their
leaders and especially their chief, President Gaston Flosse.
The fruit is characteristic of the Polynesian islands: nutritious, it is
supplied to children at their earliest age, providing them health. Fei
is always included in meals, especially in the very cultural maa tahiti.
The plant is also used in handicrafts, especially for plaiting, and as a
medicinal plant.
With a strong identity character, fei represents the Polynesian roots.
Orange, the color of fei, is to everyone the symbol of Tahoeraa Huiraatira; in the color's language, orange represents dynamism, vigor and safety.
The party logo synthesizes its name, emblem and color, with elements added:
- the rainbow, to the French colors on the left side and the Polynesian
colors on the right side, recalls the indefeasible link with France. The
rainbow also represents the alliance between the Polynesian islands and
the Polynesians of any origin.
- the blue waves represent the Polynesian archipelagos scattered in the
Pacific Ocean.
The whole is surrounded by the name of the movement; Tahoeraa Huiraatira
protects the Polynesians through the values it defends and through its
action for the country.
[Party website]
In the new logo, the fei is less prominent, with the party's name and motto (Amour - Service - Humilité) written beneath. The rainbow has been replaced by a sail emerging from the sea charged with the emblem of French Polynesia - the tricolor reference to France has been dropped.
The distinguishing characteristics of fei bananas are the erect fruit
bunches and red sap, which sets it apart from other cultivated bananas.
Bananas in this section are important for food and fiber and a valuable
red dye obtained from the pseudo-stems.
[M. Pillay, G. Ude, C. Kole, Eds. 2012. Genetics, genomics and breeding
of bananas]
Ivan Sache, 9 August 2018
![[Flag]](../images/p/pf}taah.gif)
The former flag of Tahoeraa Huiraatira was horizontally divided urange-white-orange (1:2:1) with the party's emblem in the middle. The similarity of this flag with the flag of French Polynesia was, of course, not coincidental.
The color and (former) emblem of the party are described in Article 3 of
the party's Statutes (text), last amended on 28 November 2015, as follows:
The color of Tahoeraa Huiraatira is orange.
Its emblem was prescribed by the party's Territorial Congress held on 12 and 13 March 1982.
Ivan Sache, 9 August 2018
![[Flag]](../images/p/pf}taa1.gif)
Last night's TV news showed another flag of Tahoeraa Huiraatira, with the central emblem in black on a plain orange field.
James Dignan, 14 February 2005
