Jacques Tauraa
French Polynesian politician (1920–1980)
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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 by | Frantz Vanizette |
| Succeeded by | Jean Millaud |
| In office 20 May 1959 – 2 March 1961 | |
| Preceded by | Georges Leboucher |
| Succeeded by | Frantz Vanizette |
| Minister of Economic Affairs | |
| In office 11 December 1957 – 28 October 1958 | |
| President | Pouvanaa a Oopa |
| Member of the French Polynesian Assembly for Windward Islands | |
| In office 3 November 1957 – 16 May 1968 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 February 1920[1] |
| Died | 12 February 1980[1] |
| Party | Democratic 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 was a proponent of "yes" (remain part of France, rather than become independent) 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]
Personal life
Tauraa's brother-in-law was Jacques Drollet.[9]