Louis Mapou

Louis Mapou
Leaders du FLNKS.jpg
Louis Mapou in 2017
10th President of the Government of New Caledonia
Assumed office
22 July 2021
Vice PresidentIsabelle Champmoreau
Preceded byThierry Santa
Personal details
Born (1958-11-14) 14 November 1958 (age 66)
Yaté
Political partyNational Union for Independence

Louis Mapou (French pronunciation: [lwi mapu]; born 14 November 1958 in Yaté) is a Kanak politician who has served as the President of the Government of New Caledonia since 22 July 2021.[1] Mapou is New Caledonia's first native Kanak president since the position was established in 1999.

He is a member of the Palika, and was the president of National Union for Independence group in the Congress of New Caledonia from 2014 to 2021. Also he has also been a municipal councillor of Païta from 1995 to 1998 and since 2020.[2]

Mapou studied at university in Nantes and then in Paris in the 1980s. He was director-general of the Rural Development and Land Management Agency from 1998 to 2005. From 2005 to 2014, he was director of Eramet and chairman of the board of Koniambo Nickel.[2]

Mapou’s election into the office of President of the Government in the 2021 snap election was enforced by a panel of French judges, after the 2020 New Caledonian independence referendum and the following unrest resulting in five attempts to annul the formation of a pro-independence government.[3]

References

  1. ^ Lassauce, Bernard (8 July 2021). "Louis Mapou élu premier président indépendantiste du gouvernement calédonien depuis l'Accord de Nouméa". Franceinfo (in French). Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b "H.E. Louis Mapou". Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. 7 July 2022. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Fifth attempt to elect New Caledonia president". RNZ. 5 July 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2024.