Antony Géros | |
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![]() Géros in 2023 | |
President of the Assembly of French Polynesia | |
Assumed office 11 May 2023 | |
Preceded by | Gaston Tong Sang |
In office 14 April 2005 – 13 April 2006 | |
Preceded by | Hirohiti Tefaarere |
Succeeded by | Philip Schyle |
In office 3 June 2004 – 16 November 2004 | |
Preceded by | Lucette Taero |
Succeeded by | Hirohiti Tefaarere |
Mayor of Paea | |
Assumed office 3 July 2020 | |
Preceded by | Jacquie Graffe |
Succeeded by | Hirohiti Tefaarere |
Vice-President of French Polynesia | |
In office 1 April 2011 – 17 May 2013 | |
President | Oscar Temaru |
Preceded by | Tearii Alpha |
Succeeded by | Nuihau Laurey |
In office 16 February 2009 – 24 November 2009 | |
President | Oscar Temaru |
Preceded by | Jules Ienfa |
Succeeded by | Édouard Fritch |
In office 13 September 2007 – 23 February 2008 | |
President | Oscar Temaru |
Preceded by | Temauri Foster |
Succeeded by | Édouard Fritch |
Member of the
French Polynesian Assembly for Windward Isles 2 | |
Assumed office 12 November 1999 | |
Personal details | |
Born | [1] Papeete, French Polynesia [1] | 22 July 1956
Political party | Union for Democracy Tavini Huiraatira |
Antony Daniel Teva Géros (born 22 July 1956) is a French Polynesian politician and current President of the Assembly of French Polynesia. He has previously served as a Cabinet Minister, and three times as vice-president of French Polynesia. Since 2020 he has served as Mayor of Paea. He is a member of pro-independence party Tavini Huiraatira.
Géros was born in Papeete and worked as secretary of the town of Faaa before entering politics. [1] He joined the pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira party in 1986, and has served on the municipal council of Paea since 1995. [2] He first entered the Assembly of French Polynesia in November 1999 as a replacement for Alexandre Léontieff, who had been convicted of corruption. [1] He was re-elected at the 2001 election. [1]
Géros was elected as President of the Assembly following the 2004 French Polynesian legislative election, winning by a single vote over Emile Vernaudun. [3] Following his election he controversially installed a crucifix in the Assembly, resulting in the Greens leaving the Union for Democracy coalition. [4] The crucifix was removed by President Oscar Temaru in September 2004. [5] he was replaced by his deputy Hirohiti Tefaarere after the French Council of State annulled the 2004 election in November 2004. [6] [7] He was re-elected to the Assembly in the resulting by-elections, and re-elected as President of the Assembly in the second round of voting. [8] He was replaced by Philip Schyle at the end of his one-year term in 2006, losing by a single vote. [9]
Following Oscar Temaru's re-election as President of French Polynesia in September 2007 Géros joined his cabinet as Vice-President and Minister of Finance. [10] In December 2007 his budget failed to pass the Assembly. [11] He ran again for Assembly President following the 2008 French Polynesian legislative election, but lost to Édouard Fritch. [12] Two days later a power-sharing agreement with Tahoeraa Huiraatira saw Gaston Flosse re-elected as President, [13] with Géros joining his cabinet as Lands Minister. [14] He resigned as a Minister in April 2008 after Flosse lost a confidence vote in the Assembly, returning to the Assembly in July 2008. [15] He served as vice-President in Temaru's fourth government from February to November 2009, and again in Temaru's fifth government from April 2011 to May 2013. [16] [17] [18] In September 2012 he replaced Pierre Frébault as Minister of Finance in a cabinet reshuffle. [19]
He was re-elected to the Assembly at the 2013 election, and was the Union For Democracy's candidate for President. [20] Following the unseating of Édouard Fritch for corruption in September 2014 he again stood unsuccessfully for Assembly President, losing to Marcel Tuihani. [21]
He was re-elected again at the 2018 election. [22] Following the unseating of Oscar Temaru for breaching election campaign rules, he became leader of the Tavini Huiraatira in the Assembly. [23] He later criticised the French courts for being manipulated by the government and punishing Temaru for seeking justice for French Polynesia before the International Criminal Court. [24]
In June 2020 he was elected mayor of Paea. [25] [26] In November 2020 he was elected President of the Superior Council of Municipal Civil Service. [27]
He was re-elected to the Assembly in the 2023 election. [28] On 11 May 2023 he was elected President of the Assembly for the third time, with 41 votes in favour and 16 abstentions. [29]
Géros supported the restoration of French Polynesia to the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories, and supports French Polynesian independence as a way of recognising the rights of the Maohi people. [30] he has repeatedly criticised France's refusal to engage with the United nations decolonization process. [31]
In 2010 he described French nuclear weapons testing at Moruroa as a crime against the people of Polynesia. [32]