French Polynesia

After the trial on the other case started in mid-September, Flosse got into even more trouble. Because of his criminal conviction, he was denied visa-free entry to the United States, and, on 19 November, while he was at the US Embassy in New Zealand in order to obtain a visa, his residence in Vetea, a luxury subdivision in Pirae, was completely destroyed in a fire. Nuihau Laurey, an economist and information technology expert who has published a book on renewable energy (Laurey 2009), was appointed vice president, and the cabinet includes several other young professionals who are newcomers to politics (ti, 17 May 2013). Besides downsizing the cabinet, President Flosse also announced a reduction of his presidential salary by 50 percent and that of the ministers by 10 percent, which was approved at the first cabinet meeting (ti, 22 May 2013). A coherent social, financial, and economic policy was hard to identify. Since the coun- try has been in a prolonged economic crisis for several years, and social issues like unemployment, homeless- ness, crime, and domestic violence are increasing rampantly, it is under- standable that most people have more pressing worries than the country's international status at the United Nations, as important as that may be for long-term goals. On 3 June, Bruno Barillot, was fired from his position as the government's official delegate for the follow-up on nuclear testing consequences. Since Barrillot is an internationally renowned expert on nuclear testing who had received the Nuclear-Free Future Award in New York in 2010 and who had represented the rights of nuclear testing victims very effec- tively, his firing provoked an outcry of indignation, not only by local nuclear testing victims association Moruroa e Tatou but also from various anti- nuclear organizations worldwide (ti, 4 June 2013 ).