For the first time, the chiefs (Hakaiki) of the six Marquesas islands have decided to join together to change the institutions. They want to distance themselves from French Polynesia. In reality, this is not new. This project dates back to the 1990s, but the head of Polynesia, Gaston Flosse, was opposed to it.
France must change its constitution in 2023
The Hakaiki want to take advantage of the revision of the French constitution planned for 2023 to change the institutions of French Polynesia. They want to give legal existence to this “Marquesas archipelago community”.
The Marquesan leaders want to remain in France. We want to remain within Polynesia,” Joseph Kaiha, one of the six Marquesan chiefs, told our colleagues on Polynesian public television, “but while remaining with France. Our last two elections showed that the Marquesas archipelago did not want independence. I think that the choice of the Marquesan voters is clear on that”.
