Jacqui Drollet (born 22 November 1944) is a

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

n politician, independence campaigner, 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', ' p ...

. He was Minister of Health from 1987 to 1991, and President of the

Assembly of French Polynesia The Assembly of French Polynesia (, ; Tahitian: ''Te apoʻoraʻa rahi o te fenua Māʻohi'') is the unicameral legislature of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic. It is located at Place Tarahoi in Papeete, Tahiti. It wa ...

from 14 April 2011 to 16 May 2013. Drollet was educated as a marine biologist at the

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (, ) is a community of universities and establishments ( ComUE) based in Toulouse, France. Originally it was established in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the ...

. In 1975 he founded '' Ia Mana te Nunaa'' ("Power to the People"), a radical pro-independence party opposed to nuclear testing. He was first elected to the

in the 1982 French Polynesian legislative election, when ''Ia Mana'' won three seats. In August 1982 he ran in a by-election for Deputy to the French National Assembly, coming third. He was re-elected in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, and when Alexandre Léontieff became president in 1987, was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Health, Environment, and Scientific Research. As Health Minister he organised a conference on the impact of French nuclear testing, and campaigned for the collection of cancer statistics so the health effects could be monitored. He lost his seat in the Assembly in the 1991 election. He was re-elected to the Assembly on the Tavini Huiraatira list in the 1996 election, but lost his seat again in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. In June 2004 he was appointed

vice-president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

in the government of

Oscar Temaru Oscar Manutahi Temaru (born November 1, 1944) is a Tahitian politician. He has been the president of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France, on five occasions: in 2004, from 2005 to 2006, from 2007 to 2008, in 2009, and from 2011 to ...

. He was replaced as vice-president in October 2004 when Temaru lost a confidence vote to

Gaston Flosse Gaston Flosse (born 24 June 1931) is a French Polynesian politician who has been President of French Polynesia on five separate occasions. He is currently a member of the Senate of France and has been a French junior minister under Jacques Chirac ...

. He was reappointed as vice-president when Temaru regained power in March 2005. He surrendered the position as part of a coalition realignment in April 2006. He was later appointed telecommunications and culture minister in Temaru's 2007 government, and minister of tourism in Temaru's 2009 government. While in opposition in 2010 he introduced and passed a bill in the Assembly limiting foreign investment in telecommunications in French Polynesia, effectively thwarting a plan by mobile phone company

Digicel Digicel is a Jamaican-based Caribbean mobile phone network and home entertainment provider operating in 25 markets worldwide. Digicel has operated in several countries, including Guyana, Fiji, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Samoa, St. Lucia, Surinam ...

to enter the local market. In April 2011 he was elected President of the Assembly. In February 2012 he was found to have publicly maligned two female opposition MPs and ordered to pay each of them US$2,000. In March 2013 he established a regional grouping of Polynesian parliaments. In July 2014 when President

was convicted of corruption and banned from public office he wrote an open letter to French President

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

urging him to apply the law and dismiss Flosse from the Presidency. He retired from politics in 2017. In January 1997 he was appointed a commander of the

Order of Tahiti Nui The Order of Tahiti Nui was established on 5 June 1996 by the Assembly of French Polynesia to reward distinguished merit and achievements in the service to French Polynesia. History The Order of Tahiti Nui was established June 5, 1996 by resolut ...

Relatives

Drollet is the nephew of French Polynesian politician Jacques-Denis Drollet, and the cousin of Dag Drollet, who was killed by Christian Brando.Marlon Brando’s Son Held in Fatal Shooting : Homicide: Boyfriend of Christian Brando’s half-sister is slain at the actor’s estate. Suspect had accused victim of physically abusing her.
by Eric Malnic and Scott Harris; at the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

; published May 18, 1990; retrieved April 20, 2025

References