Jacques Tauraa

Jacques Tauraa (4 February 1920 — 12 February 1980) was a French Polynesian politician and Cabinet Minister who was the longest-serving president of the Assembly of French Polynesia. He was a member of the Democratic Rally of the Tahitian People (RDPT).

Jacques Tauraa
President of the Assembly of French Polynesia
In office
6 November 1962 – 17 May 1968
Preceded byFrantz Vanizette
Succeeded byJean Millaud
In office
20 May 1959 – 2 March 1961
Preceded byGeorges Leboucher
Succeeded byFrantz Vanizette
Minister of Economic Affairs
In office
11 December 1957 – 28 October 1958
PresidentPouvanaa a Oopa
Member of the French Polynesian Assembly
for Windward Islands
In office
3 November 1957 – 16 May 1968
Personal details
Born4 February 1920[1]
Papeete, French Polynesia[1]
Died12 February 1980[1]
Nouméa, New Caledonia[1]
Political partyDemocratic Rally of the Tahitian People
Here Ai'a

Tauraa was born in Papeete and was a farmer.[1] He was president of the Chamber of Agriculture until 1957, when his membership of the pro-independence Democratic Rally of the Tahitian People caused him to lose the position.[1]

He was elected to the Assembly of French Polynesia in the 1957 French Polynesian legislative election and appointed Minister of Economic Affairs in the government of Pouvanaa a Oopa.[1][2] He opposed a "no" (pro-independence) vote in the 1958 French Polynesian constitutional referendum.[1] He lost his position as a Minister when the French colonial government dissolved Oopa's government following the referendum, but was subsequently elected by the Assembly to the resulting interim government.[3] In May 1959 he was elected president of the Assembly.[1]

Following Oopa's prosecution, conviction and exile for arson he became the leader of the RDPT.[4] He was re-elected in the 1962 election and elected president of the Assembly, a position he held for the next six years.[1] As president of the Assembly, Tauraa opposed the use of French Polynesia as a nuclear test site.[5][6] He also supported an income tax to provide financial independence from France.[7]

Following the dissolution of the RDPT by the colonial authorities, Tauraa joined Teariki's Here Ai'a.[1] A dispute with Teariki over who the party should back in the 1965 French presidential election saw Tauraa and many of the RDPT's MP's expelled from the party in 1966.[1] In 1967 he founded a new party, the Regrouping of the Tahitian People, to contest the 1967 election, but failed to secure re-election.[8]

References
  1. "Jacques TAURAA" (in French). Assemblée de la Polynésie française. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  2. "Leftist Party Takes Over in French Polynesia". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXVIII, no. 9. 1 April 1958. p. 21. Retrieved 17 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "1957-1959 : La première autonomie interne: Composition des conseils de gouvernement" (in French). Assemblée de la Polynésie française. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  4. "The Complicated Politics of Polynesia". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXXIII, no. 6. 1 January 1963. p. 9. Retrieved 17 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Le premier ministre s'efforce d'apaiser les inquiétudes suscitées par l'installation du centre d'essais nucléaires du Pacifique" (in French). Le Monde. 27 July 1964. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  6. "TAHITIANS UNHAPPY AT BOMB TESTS". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 35, no. 9. 1 September 1964. p. 57. Retrieved 17 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "TAHITIANS STAND FIRM AGAINST INCOME TAX PLAN". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 36, no. 2. 1 February 1965. p. 29-30. Retrieved 17 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "STRONG VOTE FOR AUTONOMY IN FRENCH POLYNESIA". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 38, no. 10. 1 October 1967. p. 25. Retrieved 17 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
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