Richard Tuheiava

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Richard Tuheiava
Senator for French Polynesia
In office
21 September 2008 – 30 September 2014
Preceded byNone (Seat created)
Succeeded byVincent Dubois
Member of the French Polynesian Assembly
for Windward Isles 1
Assumed office
5 May 2013
Personal details
Born28 February 1974[1]
Papeete, French Polynesia
Political partyUnion For Democracy
Socialist Party
Tavini Huiraatira

Richard Ari'ihau Tuheiava (born 28 February 1974) is a French Polynesian lawyer and politician. He represented French Polynesia in the Senate of France from 2008 to 2014, sitting with the Socialist Party. He is now a Member of the Assembly of French Polynesia and a member of Tavini Huiraatira.

Early life[edit]

Tuheiava was born in Papeete and grew up in Raiatea and Moorea.[2] He was educated at Lycée Paul-Gauguin before studying economics at the University of French Polynesia, graduating in 1993.[2] He moved to Aix-en-Provence in France to study law, and in 1997 gained his legal degree.[2] He returned to Tahiti in 1998, where he worked as a lawyer.[2][1] He is a member of the Human Rights League, and served as president of the Junior Economic Chamber.[2]

Political career[edit]

In March 2008 he was elected a municipal councilor for Arue on the Union For Democracy (UPLD) list.[2] In July 2008 he joined Tavini Huiraatira.[3] In August 2008 he was chosen as the UPLD's candidate in the 2008 French Senate election, running on a joint opposition ticket with Tahoera'a Huiraatira leader Gaston Flosse.[3] He was elected in the first round with 361 votes,[4] becoming the youngest person elected to the French Senate.[5] In the Senate he sat with the Socialist Party.[1][5] Shortly after being elected he criticised the French government's plans for a nuclear compensation law as being aimed at evading responsibility.[6] He repeated the criticism in 2010, pointing out that the law excluded compensation for contaminated land and failed to meet the needs and expectations of test victims.[7] In May 2010 he complained to the French Prime Minister about the exclusion of a Tahitian delegation from a United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization meeting in New Caledonia.[8] He later denounced the colonisation of French Polynesia by France and called the colonial era a dark period of humanity's history.[9] In 2011 he called for France's nuclear compensation law to be amended to return the test sites of Moruroa and Fangataufa to French Polynesia.[10] His bill to return the atolls was passed by the Senate in 2012,[11] but had not yet been debated by the French National Assembly by the time it was meant to take effect in 2014.[12] He contested the 2014 French Senate election for the UPLD,[13] but lost to Vincent Dubois in the first round.[14] Following the nullification of the 2014 Senate election he contested the resulting by-election,[15] but was unsuccessful.

He was elected to the Assembly of French Polynesia on the UPLD list at the 2013 French Polynesian legislative election.[16] He stood as a Tavini candidate in French Polynesia's 1st constituency at the 2017 French legislative election,[17] but was eliminated in the first round.[18] He was re-elected to the Assembly as a Tavini candidate in the 2018 election.[19]

Controversy[edit]

In November 2009 he was banned from practicing law for two years for taking money from clients without doing any work.[20] The decision was upheld by the Court of Cassation in 2012.[21][22]

In March 2012 he was charged with forgery over legal work he had done between 2006 and 2009.[23] He denounced the charges as "a political move guided by Paris".[23] The charges were dismissed in August 2012.[24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "TUHEIAVA Richard". Sénat. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "L'ascension fulgurante de Richard Tuheiava". La Dépêche de Tahiti. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 24 February 2011.
  3. ^ a b "French Polynesia senate nomination causes dissent within Union For Democracy". RNZ. 4 August 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Flosse retains French Polynesian seat in French senate despite UMP fallout". RNZ. 22 September 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b Gonschor, Lorenz (2010). "French Polynesia in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009". The Contemporary Pacific. 22 (1): 170. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  6. ^ "French Polynesian senator lashes out at Paris nuke compo talks". RNZ. 16 December 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Tahiti senator claims French nuclear compo law is mere alibi". RNZ. 23 February 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Paris urged to aid French Polynesians over snub at UN meet". RNZ. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Senator says French Polynesians should be told about colonisation". RNZ. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  10. ^ "French Polynesian call to amend nuke test compensation law". RNZ. 19 November 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  11. ^ "French senate approves bill to return French Polynesian atolls". RNZ. 19 January 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Return of nuke test sites yet to be discussed in French Assembly". RNZ. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  13. ^ "Le binôme UPLD "Tuheiava-Nena" candidat aux sénatoriales" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 11 September 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Tahoeraa wins Tahiti's French Senate seats". RNZ. 30 September 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Tahoeraa keen on retaining French Senate seats". RNZ. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  16. ^ "Richard TUHEIAVA". Assemblée de la Polynésie française. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  17. ^ "Législatives 2017 - Richard Tuheiava : "Revendiquer activement le transfert des compétences statutaires"" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  18. ^ "Législatives : pas de triangulaire au second tour" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 3 June 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  19. ^ "Territoriales 2018 : Le nouveau visage de l'Assemblée" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 6 May 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  20. ^ "Tahiti's French senator Tuheiava disbarred for two years". RNZ. 20 November 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  21. ^ "Richard Tuheiava : sanction confirmée en Cassation sur fond d'inquiétude pour la profession" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 17 October 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  22. ^ "Cour de cassation : Richard Tuheiava perd son recours contre sa suspension disciplinaire" (in French). lesnouvelles.pf. 18 October 2012. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012.
  23. ^ a b "French Polynesia's Tuheiava charged with forgery". RNZ. 15 March 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  24. ^ "Tahiti's Tuheiava cleared after alleged French plot". RNZ. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
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