Veylma Falaeo | |
|---|---|
| President of the Congress of New Caledonia | |
| Assumed office August 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Roch Wamytan |
| Member of theCongress of New Caledonia | |
| Assumed office May 2019 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1982-08-24)24 August 1982 (age 43) Nouméa, New Caledonia |
| Political party | Oceanian Awakening |
Veylma Falaeo (born 24 August 1982) is a New Caledonian politician serving as thePresident of the Congress of New Caledonia since August 2024. A member of the centristOceanian Awakening party, she is the first woman to be president of the congress.
Falaeo was born on 24 August 1982 inNouméa, the capital ofNew Caledonia.[1][2] Her family comes fromWallis 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 ofRivière-Salée.[3] She entered theUniversity 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 thel’Institut de Formation à l'Administration Publique (Public Administration Training Institute, IFAP), then thel’Institut pour le Développement des Compétences en Nouvelle-Calédonie (Institute for the Development of Skills in New Caledonia, IDCNC) and theDirection de la Formation Professionnelle Continue (Continuing Professional Training Department, DFPC).[2] She also worked during this time as aZumba teacher.[2]
In 2019, Falaeo co-founded the political partyL'Éveil océanien (Oceanian Awakening, EO) withMilakulo Tukumuli.[2] The party is centrist and focuses on the rights of Wallisians in New Caledonia.[1][2] She ran for theCongress 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 forPresident of the Congress of New Caledonia afterRoch 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]
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