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Teariki Heather
Teariki William Heather (born 30 July 1959) is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet minister who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 2013 to 2018. Previously a member of the Cook Islands Party, he is now the leader of the Cook Islands United Party. Early life Heather was born on Rarotonga and educated at Arorangi Primary school and Tereora College. He is the younger brother of Democratic Party MP William (Smiley) Heather. He was a businessman before entering politics. Political career In March 2003 Heather founded the Cook Islands National Party with the aim of securing political reform, including a shorter Parliamentary term. The party launched a high-profile court case against MPs Norman George and Paora Teiti in an effort to have them unseated for performing consultancy work for the government, which was seen as making them public servants and thus ineligible to hold office, but the case was unsuccessful. Heather contested the 2003 Rua'au by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Puna
Henry Tuakeu Puna (born 29 July 1949) is a Cook Islands politician, and the current secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum. He was Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from November 2010 to October 2020. Since 2006 he has been leader of the Cook Islands Party. Puna was elected to the Parliament of the Cook Islands at the 2005 Manihiki by-election. He lost his seat at the 2006 election, but regained it in the CIP victory at the 2010 election which saw him elected prime minister. During his time as prime minister, he held various ministerial portfolios, including Foreign affairs, Marine Resources, and Energy. In June 2020 Puna announced his intention to stand down as prime minister in September to compete for the role of secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum. He stepped down from office on 1 October 2020. On 4 February 2021 he was elected as secretary-general, replacing Meg Taylor. Early life Puna grew up in Aitutaki. He was educated on Aitutaki and Rarotonga b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
