192 the contemporary pacific • spring 2003 vailed. In the absence of facts, rumors the French Overseas Country of New abound with regard to the way the Caledonia was once again postponed. downsizing of the public service will In the meantime a guidance document take place, and many civil servants on economic development was signed are at present restless and distressed, in Paris on 22 January 2002 between as they are unsure of their future and the state and the territory in the pres- remain in the dark about the circum- ence of customary leaders. This docu- stances of their employment. ment was to be followed by a pro- kerry james gram contract along with a significant financial initiative. The year 2002 was significant on References the electoral level. First, the election MT, Matangi Tonga. Quarterly. in a single ballot of the twenty territo- Nuku‘alofa. rial advisers took place on 10 March. TC, Kalonikali, The Tonga Chronicle. Thirty-two lists, bringing together a Government weekly. Nuku‘alofa. total of 134 candidates, were submit- ted to 9,353 voters. Of those eligible, Taumu‘a Lelei. Roman Catholic monthly. 82.7 percent voted. Spoiled ballot Nuku‘alofa. papers accounted for 0.75 percent, and 9.8 percent were proxy votes. The elections yielded a right-wing majority Wallis and Futuna affiliated to the national rpr party. On 29 November 2001, French Over- On 26 March, Patalione Kanimoa was seas Secretary of State Christian Paul reelected president of the territorial went to Wallis, where he declared: parliament by 12 votes to 7, with one “I intend that the assistance of France member absent for health reasons. shall not slacken.” He confirmed the The opposition unified for the election future opening of a vocational train- of the committee of the territorial ing center and the future implementa- parliament, in spite of the fact that it tion of a statute for members of par- included as many right-wing personal- liament. He proposed the creation of ities (eg, Soane Uhila) as left-wing a development council made up of all elected officials (eg, Donald Mercier). the local decision makers. In Decem- The 5 May 2002 election of ber, it was Didier Quentin, overseas Jacques Chirac as president of the secretary-general of the Rassemble- French Republic facilitated the reelec- ment pour la République (rpr), and tion of the rpr member of parliament Pierre Frogier, president of the gov- of Wallis and Futuna. At the time of ernment of New Caledonia (of the the parliamentary elections in June, party, Rassemblement pour La Calé- outgoing Deputy Victor Brial was donie dans la République [rpcr]), opposed by four other candidates. His who went to Wallis to take their turn two main opponents (Soane Uhila and in preparing for the upcoming elec- Kamilo Gata) did not come forward tions. The signing of the special agree- as candidates, but they supported ment between the French Overseas Penisio Tialetagi, a tradesman whose Territory of Wallis and Futuna and campaign speech privileged the per- political reviews • polynesia 193 sonalization of the (“anti-Brialism”) blocks following the previous day’s debate. Brial, the candidate of the stoning by Melanesians of a school Union pour la Majorité Presidentielle bus bringing Polynesian children back (ump), benefited in the second ballot to the Wallisian and Futunian hamlet from the partial transfer of Apeleto of Ave Maria. This dispute worsened Likuvalu’s votes, although he only won on 10 December when several dwell- by 58 votes. For the first time, Gaston ings were set on fire, and inhabitants Lutui, a Wallisian known for his very of Ave Maria and members of the diverse political career, came forward Melanesian tribe of Saint-Louis were as candidate for the National Front injured by gunfire. The long-dormant (fn), an extreme right-wing national problem erupted following a rapid party. However, he did not manage to increase in the population of Ave capitalize on the 492 votes that had Maria and with the appearance of a gone to the national leader of this gang of idle and violent youths on the party at the time of the presidential Saint-Louis side. On 3 February 2002, election. young Jean-Marie Goyetta died as a With regard to New Caledonia, result of his wounds. On 10 June, a the political authorities of Wallis and thirty-six-year-old Wallisian, Petelo Futuna consider that the expatriate Motuku, was killed by a sniper as he community must be especially careful was setting off for work in his car. and discrete. Under the care of the Paradoxically, this new drama reduced Rassemblement Démocratique the tension, and the high commis- Océanien (rdo), a party affiliated to sioner then managed to set up the the Front de Libération Nationale mediation system greatly desired by Kanak Socialiste (flnks), and with the various communities. This serious the participation of a socialist party business had few direct effects on executive from France, a day of reflec- Wallis and Futuna, but it accentuated tion in August 2001 brought together the unease felt by expatriate Wallis- about sixty young Caledonians of ians and Futunians in New Caledonia. Wallisian and Futunian origin. On Administratively, the recurring 11 October, about fifteen Caledonian debate on the evolution of the statute pupils of Wallisian and Futunian of 1961 was kept alive by Senator origin destroyed the office of the Robert Laufoaulu and the state ser- headmaster of a Catholic technical vices. Indeed, the French government’s school in Bourail. Indeed, at the end desire was to give the elected officials of August abusive graffiti by young a sense of responsibility on all levels, people from a nearby tribe had called and more particularly to support for the departure of this community. greater autonomy for the three French The culprits were not punished. political entities located in the South Thanks to the arrival of Wallis and Pacific. The statute problem came up Futuna’s senator, calm returned after in the context of a debate about the a customary ceremony of forgiveness. place of the traditional chieftaincy in On 13 November 2001, another institutions, and also concerning the problem arose in Saint-Louis: young choice of competencies to be trans- Wallisian and Futunians set up road ferred. 194 the contemporary pacific • spring 2003 The economy of Wallis and Futuna only seventeen flying the French flag. still depends on direct or indirect On average, stopovers are five days. transfers from France. In July 2001, In January 2002, reinforcement work the multisector guaranteed minimum and a hundred-meter extension of the wage was raised to fcfp 70,000, runway of Hihifo international air- which is much higher than in other port were completed so that the island countries in the region, yet less than could receive a320 airbuses. that paid in France. In this regard, the There were two noteworthy cul- president of the territorial parliament tural exhibitions in July 2001. One noted that there was “a change of was devoted to the individuals who mentality. Wallisians are gradually were influential during Wallis and changing their way of life, their eating Futuna’s first forty years as an over- habits, their dress, and also their way seas territory; the other commemo- of thinking. There is now a lot of rated eighty years of local philately. demand on behalf of the population, At the same time, various cultural which is very new” (Te Fenua Fo‘ou, events emphasized the significant no. 292). Wallisian and Futunian community of A third merchant ship now brings New Caledonia, which sometimes led freight to Mata-Utu. Operated by the to sharp reactions from certain Mela- Sofrana company, the one-hundred- nesian pro-independence political six-meter-long Sofrana Bligh makes a leaders. On one occasion, sixty-three three-week run starting in New Zea- Futunian dancers and craftsmen went land and calling at Tonga, Samoa, to Noumea and an exhibition cata- Wallis, and finally Futuna. logue, covering 3,000 years of history, The problem of a special interisland took stock of the prehistoric period in ferry service is still unresolved. The Wallis and Futuna. chieftaincies of Futuna wanted a On 8 March, the editor in chief of financial arrangement based on 9 per- the weekly Te Fenua Fo‘ou was called cent participation for each of the three to a hearing by the lavelua (king), districts, and 24 percent for the terri- Tomasi Kulimoetoke. As the king tory, with private shareholders holding refused the editor’s right to evoke the 49 percent of the capital. The state follow-up to the Make Pilioko affair, imposed an arrangement based on a his interpreter declared that “if the 51 percent participation of the terri- newspaper continued to work in this tory supplemented by 5 percent par- way, the Lavelua would have the ticipation per district. newspaper shut down.” The following The Société Industrielle of Wallis week, the puluiuvea (customary min- and Futuna, the only real processing ister of the police force) ordered the plant specializing in the manufacture equipment belonging to the manager, of sheet metal and aluminum joinery, Michel Bodineau, confiscated or asked for an increase of 20 percent on destroyed. Bodineau managed to customs taxes in its sphere of activity. publish a last edition (no. 326) in Tourism remains underdeveloped, Noumea before declaring his company although thirty-six sailing ships bankrupt. The headline of the last anchored in the territory in 2001, with editorial read: “Absolute Monarchy political reviews • polynesia 195 or French Banana Republic?” In Lastly, on the customary level, in Wallis, 700 copies of the headline September 2001 Soane Patita Suve were distributed and in New Cale- became Tui Toafa, that is, the new donia, 800 copies.