Thomas Moutame 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 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 has served as Mayor of

Taputapuatea Taputapuatea is a commune of French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The commune of Taputapuatea is located on the island of Raiatea, in the administrative subdivision of the Leeward Islands, themselves part of the ...

since 1997. He is a member of

Tapura Huiraatira ''Tapura'' is a genus of plant in family Dichapetalaceae.Stephens, P.F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/ Species include: * ''Tapura africana'' Oliv. * ''Tapura arach ...

. Moutame is from

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 ...

. He was first 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 Plac ...

at the 1996 French Polynesian legislative election. He lost his seat at the 2001 election, but was re-elected in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. He lost his seat again at the 2008 election. In February 2009 he was appointed to the coalition cabinet of

Oscar Temaru Oscar Manutahi Temaru (born November 1, 1944) is a French politician. He has been President of French Polynesia (''président de la Polynésie française''), an overseas collectivity of France, on five occasions: in 2004, from 2005 to 2006, from ...

as Minister of Outer Islands Development. He later worked as a technical advisor to the Ministry of Rural Economy. In 2007 while serving as Mayor of

he refused to marry a couple because one of them had had a sex change. In March 2011 he was convicted of abuse of power and fined US$5000. In September 2011 the Court of Appeal overturned an initial sentence of a year's ineligibility for office. Following the 2013 election he was appointed to the Cabinet of

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 ...

as Minister of Agriculture and Island Development. After the fall of the Flosse government in September 2014 he returned to the Assembly. In December 2015 he voted for

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 budget rather than abstain with the rest of his party. He did the same in December 2016. In April 2017 he was one of 22 Tahoeraa politicians jointly ordered to repay US$2.1 million of public funds they had misused to advance their political party between 1996 and 2004. In February 2018 he left the Tahoeraa after failing to secure a high enough placing on the party list. He subsequently ran as a

in the 2018 election and was elected. In 2020 he was re-elected as Mayor of

for a fifth term.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moutame, Thomas Living people 1958 births People from Raiatea Tahoera'a Huiraatira politicians Tapura Huiraatira politicians Mayors of places in French Polynesia Members of the Assembly of French Polynesia Government ministers of French Polynesia