Richard Ari'ihau Tuheiava (born 28 February 1974) 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 Frenc ...

n lawyer and politician. He represented French Polynesia in the

Senate of France 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 ...

from 2008 to 2014, sitting with the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. He is now a Member of 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 Plac ...

and a member of Tavini Huiraatira.

Early life

Tuheiava was born in

Papeete Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeete'', pronounced ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific Ocean. The Communes of France, commune of Papeete is located on the isl ...

and grew up in

Raiatea Raiatea or Ra'iatea ( Tahitian: ''Ra‘iātea'') is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia. The island is widely regarded as the "centre" of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the ...

and

Moorea Moorea ( or ; Tahitian: ), also spelled Moorea, is a volcanic island in French Polynesia. It is one of the Windward Islands, a group that is part of the Society Islands, northwest of Tahiti. The name comes from the Tahitian word , meaning " ...

. He was educated at

Lycée Paul-Gauguin The Lycée Paul-Gauguin (LPG) is a secondary school in Papeete, Tahiti. The school originated from the École Centrale, which became the collège Paul Gauguin on 10 August 1953. At the time it had 478 students. It became the lycée Paul Gauguin ...

before studying economics at the

University of French Polynesia The University of French Polynesia (french: Université de la Polynésie française) 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 Pac ...

, graduating in 1993. He moved to

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

to study law, and in 1997 gained his legal degree. He returned to Tahiti in 1998, where he worked as a lawyer. He is a member of the Human Rights League, and served as president of the Junior Economic Chamber.

Political career

In March 2008 he was elected a municipal councilor for Arue on the Union For Democracy (UPLD) list. In July 2008 he joined Tavini Huiraatira. In August 2008 he was chosen as the UPLD's candidate in the 2008 French Senate election, running on a joint opposition ticket with Tahoera'a Huiraatira leader

Gaston Flosse Gaston Flosse (born 24 June 1931) is a French 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 receiv ...

. He was elected in the first round with 361 votes, becoming the youngest person elected to the French Senate. In the Senate he sat with the

. Shortly after being elected he criticised the French government's plans for a nuclear compensation law as being aimed at evading responsibility. He repeated the criticism in 2010, pointing out that the law excluded compensation for contaminated land and failed to meet the needs and expectations of test victims. In May 2010 he complained to the French Prime Minister about the exclusion of a Tahitian delegation from a United Nations

Special Committee on Decolonization The United Nations Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, or the Special Committee on Decolonization (C-24), is a committee of ...

meeting in

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

. He later denounced the colonisation of French Polynesia by France and called the colonial era a dark period of humanity's history. In 2011 he called for France's nuclear compensation law to be amended to return the test sites of

Moruroa Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll ...

and

Fangataufa Fangataufa (or Fangatafoa) is an uninhabited coral atoll in the eastern part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. The atoll has been fully-owned by the French state since 1964. From 1966 to 1996 it was used as a nuclear test site by th ...

to French Polynesia. His bill to return the atolls was passed by the Senate in 2012, but had not yet been debated by the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

by the time it was meant to take effect in 2014. He contested the

2014 French Senate election The 2014 French senate election was held on 28 September 2014 and featured results which saw the Senate (France), senate being reclaimed by the centre-right party Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). The right-wing conservative victory reversed th ...

for the UPLD, but lost to

Vincent Dubois Vincent Dubois (born 5 August 1981) is a French Polynesian lawyer and politician who represented French Polynesia in the Senate of France from 2014 to 2015. He is the son-in-law of Tahoera'a Huiraatira leader Gaston Flosse. Education and career ...

in the first round. Following the nullification of the 2014 Senate election he contested the resulting by-election, but was unsuccessful. He was elected to the

on the UPLD list at the 2013 French Polynesian legislative election. He stood as a Tavini candidate in

French Polynesia's 1st constituency The 1st constituency of French Polynesia is a French legislative constituency in French Polynesia. Following the 2010 redistricting of French legislative constituencies, which came into application for the June 2012 legislative election, the ...

at the

2017 French legislative election Legislative elections in France were held on 11 and 18 June 2017 (with different dates for voters overseas) to elect the 577 members of the 15th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. They followed the two-round presidential election won by ...

, but was eliminated in the first round. He was re-elected to the Assembly as a Tavini candidate in the 2018 election.

Controversy

In November 2009 he was banned from practicing law for two years for taking money from clients without doing any work. The decision was upheld by the

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...

in 2012. In March 2012 he was charged with forgery over legal work he had done between 2006 and 2009. He denounced the charges as "a political move guided by Paris". The charges were dismissed in August 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuheiava, Richard 1974 births Living people People from Papeete University of French Polynesia alumni French Polynesian lawyers French Senators of the Fifth Republic French Polynesian politicians Socialist Party (France) politicians Senators of French Polynesia Members of the Assembly of French Polynesia Tavini Huiraatira politicians