Nicole Sanquer-Fareata (born 16 June 1972) 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, and former Cabinet Minister. She was a member of the French

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

from 2017 to 2022. Elected as a member of

Tapura Huiraatira ''Tapura'' is a genus of plant in the family Dichapetalaceae.Stephens, P.F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/ , Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Onl ...

, she sits in the

UDI and Independents group The UDI and Independent Deputies () was a parliamentary group in the National Assembly of France including members of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI), Agir (2017–2020), and some dissidents of The Republicans (LR) after the 2017 ...

in the

French Parliament The French Parliament (, ) is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the French Fifth Republic, consisting of the Senate (France), Senate (), and the National Assembly (France), National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessi ...

. In 2020 she formed the

A here ia Porinetia A here ia Porinetia () is a political party in French Polynesia. The party was formed in August 2020 and advocates a reduction in the size of the Assembly of French Polynesia to 39 members, the introduction of term limits to renew the political cla ...

party.

Early life

Sanquer is the daughter of former French Polynesian education minister Nicolas Sanquer. She was educated at the

University of French Polynesia The University of French Polynesia () is a French university located in Puna'auia, French Polynesia. History Created by a decree of May 29, 1987, the university was originally called French Pacific University and was split between two sites ...

, the

Paul Bocuse Paul François Pierre Bocuse (; 11 February 1926 – 20 January 2018) was a French chef based in Lyon known for the quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to cuisine. Dubbed "the pope of gastronomy", he was affectionately nick ...

institute of culinary arts in

Écully Écully () is a suburban Communes of France, commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region, central-eastern France. It is a northwestern suburb of Lyon, bordering its 9th arrondissement of Lyon, 9th arron ...

, and

ESSEC Business School Founded in 1907, ESSEC Business School (École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales) is a French higher education institution specialising in business and management. It is a grande école, a type of institution known for select ...

, graduating with a master's degree in international hotel management in collaboration with

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1997. After teaching at the hotel school in

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

, she worked as a civil servant in the protocol department of the president of French Polynesia, before serving as the head of the tourism department. In 2001 she returned to teaching at the hotel school. In November 2014 she was awarded the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

for services to national education.

Political career

Sanquer was first elected to 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 ...

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 landslide 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 ...

as a representative for Tahoera'a Huiraatira. She was appointed to the cabinet of Edouard Fritch in September 2014 as Minister of Education, becoming the youngest member of Cabinet. In October 2015 she was appointed Minister for Youth and Sports. While serving as a Minister her seat in the

was filled by Puta'i Taae. She was elected to the French National Assembly in the

2017 French legislative election Legislative elections in France, Legislative elections were held in France on 11 and 18 June 2017 (with different dates for voters overseas) to elect the 577 Member of Parliament (France), members of the 15th legislature of the French Fifth Rep ...

. Following the election she resigned as a Minister and returned to her seat in the French Polynesian Assembly. She was re-elected to the territorial assembly in the 2018 election. In December 2019 Sanquer declared that she would sit as an independent in the Assembly of French Polynesia. Despite this, she was not expelled from the party. In August 2020 Sanquer founded

with former

MPs

Nuihau Laurey Nuihau Laurey (born 29 December 1964) is a French Polynesian politician and former Cabinet Minister. He was vice-president of French Polynesia from 2014–2017 and one of the two senators for French Polynesia from 2015 to 2020. He was acting pres ...

, 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 2021 she organised a protest against French Polynesia's vaccination law. That month she also called for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis in the territory. She ran again as a

candidate in the

2022 French legislative election Legislative elections in France, Legislative elections were held in France on 12 and 19 June 2022 to elect the 577 Deputy (France), members of the 16th National Assembly (France), National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic. Th ...

, but was eliminated in the first round. She was re-elected to the Assembly in the 2023 election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanquer, Nicole Living people 1972 births People from Papeete University of French Polynesia alumni ESSEC Business School alumni French Polynesian civil servants 21st-century women civil servants French Polynesian educators Women educators Deputies of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of the Assembly of French Polynesia Government ministers of French Polynesia 21st-century French women politicians French Polynesian women in politics Tahoera'a Huiraatira politicians Tapura Huiraatira politicians Recipients of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques A here ia Porinetia politicians