148 THE CONTEMPORARY PACIFIC · SPRING 1995 president of the government, Gaston Flosse. Despite Juventin's demand that

The latest purge has undermined party solidarity and will exacerbate the steady decline in Here Ai'a's public image and electoral fortunes. The tenth anniversary of internal autonomy was celebrated by the gov-ernment on 29 June 1994, although few members of the public were on hand, and representatives of the state were notably absent from the cere-mony. The high commissioner boy-cotted the proceedings because of a perceived slight in protocol. President Flosse had decided that the territory's national anthem would henceforth be sung last on territorial occasions instead of the Marseillaise. This move was similar to Flosse's unilateral deci-sion while hosting the Pacific Island Conference in June 1993, when he referred to the territory as Tahiti Nui in.~~<lg offr~cblQIY~<:.sia.To the irritation of the French g;~e~~tiJ.~nt: Flosse has also been campaigning for French Polynesia to be granted observer status at the South Pacific Forum. These nationalistic gestures are, however, symbolic and do not indicate a change in the president's position on political status. Flosse's attitude was confirmed in a media interview when he said there was nothing to be gained by acceding to independence in association, much less sovereign independence, in the foreseeable future. He reiterated that economic autonomy was a prerequisite for full political autonomy and that his government's energies would be focused on developing the economy. Yet, he did bemoan the fact that the state Administrative Tribunal has applied a particularly restrictive inter-pretation to powers granted under the statute, often ruling against actions by the government. For this reason, he saw a need to improve the terms of the statute so that the territorial govern-ment could enjoy the full scope of autonomy without interference from the state