Richard Tuheiava

Richard Tuheiava
Senator for French Polynesia
In office 21 September 2008 – 30 September 2014
Preceded by	None (Seat created)
Succeeded by	Vincent Dubois
Member of the French Polynesian Assembly for Windward Isles 1
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 May 2013
Personal details
Born	28 February 1974[1] Papeete, French Polynesia
Political party	Union 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

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

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

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

1. "TUHEIAVA Richard". Sénat. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
2. "L'ascension fulgurante de Richard Tuheiava". La Dépêche de Tahiti. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 24 February 2011.
3. "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. 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. "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.