Veylma Falaeo (born 24 August 1982) is a New Caledonian politician serving as the President of the Congress of New Caledonia since August 2024. A member of the centrist Oceanian Awakening party, she is the first woman to be president of the congress.
Veylma Falaeo | |
|---|---|
| President of the Congress of New Caledonia | |
| Assumed office August 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Roch Wamytan |
| Member of the Congress of New Caledonia | |
| Assumed office May 2019 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 24 August 1982 Nouméa, New Caledonia |
| Political party | Oceanian Awakening |
Biography
editFalaeo was born on 24 August 1982 in Nouméa, the capital of New Caledonia.[1][2] Her family comes from Wallis and Futuna and her father was a Nouméa municipal councilman.[1][3] She is the eldest of three children and grew up in the district of Rivière-Salée.[3] She entered the University of New Caledonia at age 18 where she received two degrees, one in public administration and the other in economics and management.[1]
Falaeo became a civil servant in 2009, first working at the l’Institut de Formation à l'Administration Publique (Public Administration Training Institute, IFAP), then the l’Institut pour le Développement des Compétences en Nouvelle-Calédonie (Institute for the Development of Skills in New Caledonia, IDCNC) and the Direction de la Formation Professionnelle Continue (Continuing Professional Training Department, DFPC).[2] She also worked during this time as a Zumba teacher.[2]
In 2019, Falaeo co-founded the political party L'Éveil océanien (Oceanian Awakening, EO) with Milakulo Tukumuli.[2] The party is centrist and focuses on the rights of Wallisians in New Caledonia.[1][2] She ran for the Congress of New Caledonia that year as part of the party and won election, being one of three seats won by the party.[1] Although the party only has three of 54 seats in the Congress, it has been called the "party of kingmakers" as it has the ability to give either the pro-independence or anti-independence sides a narrow majority in congress.[1]
Falaeo ran for mayor of Nouméa in 2020, placing fourth with 2,000 votes.[1] In 2022, she became the secretary general of the Oceanian Awakening party.[1] In August 2024, she became a candidate in the election for President of the Congress of New Caledonia after Roch Wamytan was narrowly ousted by a vote of 28–26.[4] She received the support of the anti-independence faction and was elected by one vote over Wamytan.[5][6] Falaeo became the first woman elected to the position.[7] Her election came in the midst of New Caledonia being in a major unrest between pro- and anti-independence groups, with Falaeo pledging to "pursue a middle-way approach to governance."[4]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h Gouret, Baptiste (30 August 2024). "Qui est Veylma Falaeo, la nouvelle présidente du Congrès ?" [Who is Veylma Falaeo, the new president of the Congress?]. Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes (in French).
- ^ a b c d e "Biographie" [Biography] (PDF) (in French). Congress of New Caledonia.
- ^ a b Pohpillat, Anne-Claire (6 September 2024). "[DOSSIER] Veylma Falaeo: « Reprendre notre place centrale avec nos trois voix médianes »" [[FILE] Veylma Falaeo: “Retaking our central place with our three middle voices”]. DNC.nc (in French).
- ^ a b "Can New Caledonia's first female congress president bridge the divide amid civil unrest?". Radio France Internationale. 2 September 2024.
- ^ Decloitre, Patrick (31 August 2024). "Roch Wamytan replaced - Major shift at New Caledonia's Congress". Radio New Zealand.
- ^ Chenais, Stéphanie (29 August 2024). "Veylma Falaeo, élue présidente du Congrès de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, donne le ton : "Affirmer et démontrer l'existence de la voie médiane"" [Veylma Falaeo, elected president of the Congress of New Caledonia, sets the tone: "Affirm and demonstrate the existence of the middle way"] (in French). France Info.
- ^ Avril, Yvan; Aubry, Loreleï; Chenais, Stéphanie (30 August 2024). "PORTRAIT. Veylma Falaeo, présidente du Congrès de la Nouvelle-Calédonie : "Il faut trouver le moyen de nous rassembler et de regarder, enfin, dans la même direction"" [PORTRAIT. Veylma Falaeo, President of the Congress of New Caledonia: “We must find a way to come together and finally look in the same direction”] (in French). France Info.
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