Benoît Kautai | |
---|---|
Mayor of Nuku Hiva | |
Assumed office 2002 | |
Preceded by | Lucien Kimitete |
Member of the
French Polynesian Assembly for Marquesas Islands | |
Assumed office 6 May 2018 | |
Member of the
French Polynesian Assembly for Marquesas Islands | |
In office 29 January 2008 – 4 May 2013 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1960 [1] |
Political party | Te Henua Enata a Tu Union For Democracy Tāpura Huiraʻatira |
Benoît Kautai (born 1960) is a French Polynesian politician and Member of the Assembly of French Polynesia. He is currently mayor of Nuku Hiva. He is a member of Tāpura Huiraʻatira.
He was elected Mayor of Nuku Hiva in 2002 following the disappearance of Lucien Kimitete. [2]
He was first elected to the Assembly of French Polynesia in the 2008 French Polynesian legislative election, on the Marquesan Te Henua Enata a Tu list, which advocated for the Marquesas Islands to be split from the rest of French Polynesia. [3] He later abstained from the Assembly's 2011 vote to re-enter French Polynesia on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. [4] He ran in the 2013 election as a candidate for the Union For Democracy (UPLD), but lost his seat. [5]
In February 2016 he attended the founding congress of the Tāpura Huiraʻatira and was elected as one of the party's vice-presidents. [6] He was re-elected to the Assembly as a Tāpura candidate in the 2018 election. [7] Shortly after the election he was charged with abuse of public funds and fraud over a roading project in Nuku Hiva. [8] In September 2018 he was convicted of both charges, fined US$50,000, and given a ten-month suspended prison sentence, but not disqualified from office. [9] [10] In December 2018 the French Polynesian government declined to seek damages from him. [11]
He was re-elected as mayor of Nuku Hiva in May 2020. [12] As mayor, he advocated for the Marquesas to become an "archipelago community" with autonomy within French Polynesia. [13] He also advocated for the Marquesas to be listed as a World Heritage Site. [14]
He was re-elected in the 2023 election. [15]