Nuihau Laurey (born 29 December 1964) is a

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = "Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of French ...

n politician and former

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘ prime minister� ...

. He was vice-president of

from 2014-2017 and one of the two senators for French Polynesia from 2015 to 2020. He was acting president of French Polynesia in 2014 between Gaston Flosse and

Édouard Fritch Winfred Édouard Tereori Fritch (born 4 January 1952) is a French politician who has served as President of French Polynesia since 2014. He previously presided over the Assembly of French Polynesia on three occasions: from April 2007 to February ...

's presidencies.

Early life

Laurey worked for the government-owned Socredo bank before working as a consultant. In 2009, he published ''Énergies renouvelables plaidoyer pour une véritable politique de l'énergie en Polynésie française'' (Renewable energy: Advocacy for a real energy policy in French Polynesia), published by Au Vent des Îles. In 2010, he was technical advisor to Teva Rohfritsch, then Minister of Energy, before returning to work again as a conultant.

Political career

He was elected to the

Assembly of French Polynesia The Assembly of French Polynesia (french: Assemblée de la Polynésie française, Tahitian: Te apo'ora'a rahi o te fenua Mā'ohi) is the unicameral legislature of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic. It is located at Pla ...

in the

2013 French Polynesian legislative election Legislative elections were held in French Polynesia on 21 April and 5 May 2013. The result was a victory for the Tahoera'a Huiraatira party, which won 38 of the 57 seats in the Assembly. Electoral system The election was held using a two round ...

. and appointed to the Cabinet of Gaston Flosse as Vice-President and Minister of Economy, Finance, Budget and Labour. As Finance Minister he increased taxes and reduced the size of the public service. He was Acting President from the dismissal of Gaston Flosse on 5 September 2014 until the election of Édouard Fritch on 12 September. He was retained as Vice-President by Fritch, and continued to serve in Cabinet as Minister for the Economy and Finance, Budget, Civil Service, Enterprise, Industry and Export Promotion from 16 September 2014. In March 2015 he was nominated as a candidate for the

French Senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...

by Fritch, against the wishes of Flosse. In April 2015 Flosse expelled him from Tahoera'a Huiraatira over the issue. The expulsion was a significant factor in the collapse of Tahoera'a and the formation of Tapura Huiraatira. Llaurey was elected senator of French Polynesia on May 3, 2015 during a by-election. He sat in the UDI-UC group in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. He resigned the vice-presidency on 13 January 2017 but retained the Ministry of Budget, Finance and Energy until 28 February 2017. In June 2020 he left the Tapura Huiraatira party after a dispute with Edouard Fritch over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in French Polynesia. He remained in the Assembly, sitting as an independent. In August 2020 he founded A here ia Porinetia with former Tapura Huiraatira MPs Nicole Sanquer, Bernard Natua, Teura Tarahu-Atuahiva, and Félix Tokoragi, as well as Tahoera'a Huiraatira MP Vaitea Le Gayic who was "loaned" by Tahoera'a. The group lost its parliamentary recognition in January 2021 after Le Gayic resigned and rejoined Tahoera'a, leaving its members as independents. In September 2020 he failed to win re-election to the Senate, losing his seat to Teva Rohfritsch. In February 2023 he was named at the head of A here ia Porinetia's list for the

2023 French Polynesian legislative election Elections to the Assembly of French Polynesia are scheduled to be held in 2023 in order to elect 57 representatives to the Assembly of French Polynesia. The last election was in 2018. Background The 2018 French Polynesian legislative election ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurey, Nuihau 1964 births Living people People from Papeete Union of Democrats and Independents politicians French Senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of French Polynesia A here ia Porinetia politicians