Émile Vernaudon

Émile André Vernaudon (born 8 December 1943) is a former French Polynesian politician and Cabinet Minister. The leader of the Aia Api party, he served as President of the Assembly of French Polynesia twice, first from 1981 to 1983, and the second time from 1991 to 1992. He served as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in the Cabinet of Oscar Temaru. He represented French Polynesia's 2nd constituency in the French National Assembly twice, from 1988 to 1993, and again from 1997 to 2002. From 1977 to 2008 he served as Mayor of Mahina.

Émile Vernaudon
Vernaudon in 2006
Mayor of Mahina
In office
1977–2008
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications
In office
2005 – 12 April 2006
PresidentOscar Temaru
President of the Assembly of French Polynesia
In office
28 March 1991 – 2 April 1992
Preceded byJean Juventin
Succeeded byJean Juventin
In office
1 June 1982 – 5 April 1983
Preceded byFrantz Vanizette
Succeeded byJacques Teuira
Member of the French Polynesian Assembly
for Windward islands
In office
23 May 2004 – 28 January 2008
In office
12 May 1996 – 5 May 2001
In office
16 March 1986 – 1 April 1992
In office
23 May 1982 – 4 April 1983
Member of the French National Assembly
for French Polynesia's 2nd constituency
In office
1997–2002
Preceded byGaston Flosse
Succeeded byBeatrice Vernaudon
In office
1988–1993
Succeeded byGaston Flosse
Personal details
Born (1943-12-08) 8 December 1943[1]
Papeete, French Polynesia[1]
Political partyE'a Api
Aia Api

In 2007 he was convicted on the first of a long series of corruption charges stemming from his time as mayor of Mahina and as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications. After serving time in jail, he retired from politics in 2011.

Political career

A surveyor by profession, Vernaudon became mayor of Mahina in 1977. As mayor, he became known as "Sheriff" after dressing the police in Mahina in American police uniforms.[2] At the 1982 French Polynesian legislative election he founded the Aia Api party, which went on to win three seats.[3] Aia Api subsequently formed a coalition with Gaston Flosse's Tahoeraa Huiraatira, and Vernaudon was elected President of the Assembly.[4] The coalition collapsed in September 1982, after Vernaudon contested the by-election for the French National Assembly against Flosse's candidate.[5][6] He lost the Assembly presidency and his seat in the Assembly in April 1983.[7]

He was re-elected to the Assembly at the 1986 election.[7] He was re-elected again in the 1991 election, again forming a coalition with Flosse and again becoming President of the Assembly.[8] Once again the coalition collapsed within a few months,[9] and Vernaudon used his position as Assembly President to shut down the legislature, locking MPs out of the Assembly until his term expired in April 1992.[10] He was re-elected to the Assembly at the 1996 election[7] He lost his seat at the 2001 election.[11]

He contested the 1988 French legislative election in French Polynesia's 2nd constituency as an independent and was elected to the French National Assembly.[7][12] He lost his seat at the 1993 French legislative election,[13] but regained it in 1997.[14] He lost the seat again in 2002.[7]

He was re-elected to the Assembly at the 2004 election.[7] Between 2005 and 2006, he served as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in the government of Oscar Temaru. In September 2004 he was convicted of illegal profit-taking, fined USD30,000 and given a suspended sentence of 12 months imprisonment for diverting public resources to benefit his family and girlfriend.[15] The sentence was upheld on appeal in January 2006.[16] The court did not declare him ineligible for public office, and Temaru allowed him to retain his ministerial positions.[17] He resigned as a Minister in April 2006.[18] Following his resignation he aligned himself with Tahoeraa Huiraatira and announced his intention to replace Temaru as president.[19][20]

Corruption convictions

In March 2007 he was convicted of corruption in the Tautira land affair, given an 18 month suspended prison sentence, and declared ineligible for public office for five years.[21] The sentence was upheld on appeal in April 2008.[22]

On 4 December 2007 Vernaudon was remanded in custody on corruption charges relating to his management of the Office of Posts and Telecommunications.[23][24] As a result of his detention he was unable to campaign in the 2008 territorial elections, and his place on the To Tatou Ai'a was taken by his partner Heifara Izal.[25] He was able to run in the municipal elections in February 2008 and was re-elected as Mayor.[26] He was released on bail on 2 April 2008.[27] In December 2008 the French court of cassation upheld his sentence of ineligibility in the Tautira case, and he was removed from office as mayor.[28][29]

In January 2011 he was convicted of concealment and complicity in embezzlement of public funds, complicity in forgery and use of forgery, and illegal taking of interests in the OPT case, and sentenced to five years in prison and five years of ineligibility for public office.[30][31] The following month, during the second round of the Mahina by-election, the list he led came third, winning 23.2% of the votes cast.[32] At the end of May 2011, still in prison, he resigned from his post as municipal councilor and left politics.[33] He was granted conditional release on 6 June 2012.[30][34]

In February 2016 he was tried for corruption over the award of the contract for the Honotua communications cable,[35] and acquitted.[36] In December 2016 he was convicted of corruption again and sentenced to another year in prison for giving a contract for Mahina's green waste to a friend.[37][38] He was convicted again of forgery, use of forgery, breach of trust and embezzlement of public funds over the running of Radio Bleue, a public radio station. He was sentenced to a year in prison, a 5 million XPF fine, and five years of ineligibility for public office.[39]

In April 2018 he joined the Tahoeraa Huiraatira to contest the 2018 election.[40] He was subsequently removed from the electoral lists as he was unable to vote and ineligible for public office.[41]

Honours

In 2000 he was made a member of the Ordre national du Mérite. He was stripped of his membership in October 2011.[42]

References
  1. "M. Émile Vernaudon". Assemblée nationale. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  2. "Polynesia votes - yet again". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 52, no. 8. 1 August 1981. p. 18-19. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Right wins Tahiti ballot". Sydney Tribune. 9 June 1982. p. 7. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Post-election hangovers in French Polynesia". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 53, no. 8. 1 August 1982. p. 24. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "FLOSSE'S MAN ROMPS HOME IN TAHITI". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 53, no. 10. 1 October 1982. p. 7. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "KALEIDOSCOPE OF COALITIONS IN TAHITI". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 53, no. 11. 1 November 1982. p. 5. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Emile VERNAUDON". Assemblée de la Polynésie française. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  8. "ELECTIONS EN POLYNÉSIE FRANÇAISE Le retour de Gaston Flosse". Le Courrier Australien (in French). 10 April 1991. p. 26. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "Flosse forms new coalition ... again". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 61, no. 10. 1 October 1991. p. 20. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "The charter that spell disillusionment". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 62, no. 11. 1 November 1992. p. 12. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "Une femme à la tête de l'Assemblée de Polynésie". Le Courrier Australien (in French). 1 June 2001. p. 33. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "LES RESULTATS DES LEGISLATIVES". Le Courrier Australien (in French). 10 July 1988. p. 6. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. "FRENCH POLYNESIA Going to the polls". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 63, no. 5. 1 May 1993. p. 17. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. "Le RPR élu en Polynésie". Le Courrier Australien. 10 June 1997. p. 23. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. "French Polynesian Minister convicted for illegal profit-taking". RNZ. 1 September 2004. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  16. "French Polynesian minister Vernaudon given suspended jail sentence for corruption". RNZ. 27 January 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  17. "French Polynesia government admits bad example by keeping on corrupt minister". RNZ. 1 February 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  18. "Another French Polynesian cabinet minister resigns". RNZ. 12 April 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  19. "French Polynesian politician convicted for corruption vies for presidency". RNZ. 13 April 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  20. "Newly elected French Polynesian assembly president says he wants stability". RNZ. 14 April 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  21. "French Polynesian politician gets suspended jail sentence for corruption". RNZ. 21 March 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  22. "Vernaudon loses French Polynesian appeal over corrupt land deal". RNZ. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  23. "Émile Vernaudon reste en détention provisoire" (in French). TahitiPresse. 11 March 2008. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.
  24. "Political veteran in French Polynesia in police custody". RNZ. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  25. "March in support of jailed French Polynesian politician". RNZ. 13 January 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  26. "Opposition To Tatou Aia notches up wins in French Polynesia's municipal election". RNZ. 18 March 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  27. "Vernaudon freed after four months in French Polynesian jail". RNZ. 3 April 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  28. "Corruption conviction means French Polynesian mayor loses job". RNZ. 4 December 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  29. "Le Haussariat confirme le rejet du pourvoi d'E.Vernaudon" (in French). TahitiPresse. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.
  30. "L'ancien député Emile Vernaudon est sorti de prison" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  31. "French Polynesia's Vernaudon sentenced over OPT affair". RNZ. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  32. "Ia Tura I Mahina, la liste de Patrice Jamet remporte les élections à Mahina avec 48.30% des voix" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 6 February 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  33. "Emile Vernaudon quitte la politique" (in French). TahitiPresse. 1 June 2011. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011.
  34. "Tahiti's Vernaudon released from prison". RNZ. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  35. "Trial opens in Tahiti's Honotua affair". RNZ. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  36. "Acquittals in Tahiti's Honotua affair". RNZ. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  37. "Emile Vernaudon condamné dans l'affaire des déchets verts à Mahina" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  38. "Jail term for French Polynesia's Emile Vernaudon". RNZ. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  39. "Vernaudon, Pomare et Tefaatau condamnés dans l'affaire Radio Bleue" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  40. "Emile Vernaudon rejoint le Tahoeraa Huiraatira" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  41. "Emile Vernaudon radié des listes électorales à Mahina" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 27 April 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  42. "French Polynesia's Vernaudon loses Order of Merit membership". RNZ. 21 October 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
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