# Thierry Santa

Thierry Santa (born 29 August 1967) is a French politician in New Caledonia who served the 9th President of the Government of New Caledonia, elected by the cabinet on 6 July 2019. He left office on 22 July 2021. Santa is the leader of The Rally political party since 2018. He previously served as President of the Congress of New Caledonia from 2015 to 2018 and secretary general of The Rally from 2013 to 2016.
Santa was born in Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia and studied economic science at the University of Bordeaux I in Bordeaux, France.

## Origins and formation

Born 29 in Papeete, Thierry Santa is the son of Tugdual Santa (born in 1943 in Papeete), through whom he descends from notable families of Tahiti of the Bambridge (of English and Tahitian origin), Coppenrath (of German origin) and Bodin (of French Poitevin origin); and Irène Degage (born in 1945), married Robert in his second marriage, former civil servant of the Office of Posts and Telecommunications (OPT) in Tahiti then responsible for the social grocery store of the Red Cross in Raiatea.
His parents divorced, he spent most of his childhood between school periods in Tahiti where he continued to reside with his mother and vacations in Thio in New Caledonia with his father. He then studied in Bordeaux, at the former Université Bordeaux-I, from which he graduated with a master's degree in economic sciences and a specialized higher studies diploma (DESS) in business administration. Once he graduated in 1991, he did his national service as a technical aid volunteer (VAT) in the service of the finances of the town hall of Nouméa, and then settled permanently in New Caledonia.

## Municipal official

Once his service ended, taking advantage of retirement, he became head of the finance department of the town hall of Nouméa until 2000.
But his first direct contact with the political world took place in 2000, when Pierre Frogier, then deputy, mayor of Mont-Dore and successor potential of Jacques Lafleur at the head of the historic party of the loyalist right, the Rassemblement pour la Calédonie dans la République (RPCR), recruited him on 12 June as secretary general of the town hall of this commune in the suburbs of Nouméa. It was that same year that he joined the party. Pierre Frogier becoming president of the government of New Caledonia and resigning from his mandate as mayor in 1 March, Thierry Santa's relations with the new chief magistrate, Réginald Bernut, prove to be conflicting.
In 1 March, he left this function within the municipal administration to become a collaborator of Corinne Fuluhea, member RPCR of the local executive responsible for Vocational Training, until 1 March. He then became project manager for the Budget and Financial Affairs Directorate (DBAF) of the government, then returned to his position as secretary general of the town of Mont-Dore to the new mayor, Éric Gay, himself a close friend of Pierre Frogier. It remains so until 1 March. He then participated in the reorganization of the municipal administration and the preparation of the urban redevelopment of Boulari. Gérard Reignier, independence leader of the municipal opposition until 2011 and secretary general of the Caledonian Union (UC), recognizes him as "a good secretary general. Hardworking, technically quite sophisticated, attentive. Perhaps a little too political", while his deputy and successor Philippe Defrance recognizes in him "a particular skill in finances" and "a very important capacity for synthesis". He is part of the "clan of Mont-Dore", an expression designating within the media the most loyal supporters of Pierre Frogier who gradually dominate the apparatus of the Rassemblement-UMP from 2005.

## Political rise
### Secretary General of the Rally

Following the legislative elections of 2012, which were a failure for the candidates of Rassemblement (and particularly for Éric Gay, beaten in the first round), an internal division appears within the party. Some of the executives, particularly from the younger generation, criticize a certain number of decisions and strategies taken by Pierre Frogier by attributing responsibility to them for this defeat, namely especially the rise in 2010 of independence flag or "Kanaky" or "du FLNKS" alongside the French flag on public buildings, and the election with the votes of Rally-UMP of the independentist Rock Wamytan to the presidency of the Congress in 2011. These "rebels", led by the former deputy and first deputy to the mayor of Nouméa Gaël Yanno and by the interim general secretary of the party Sonia Backès, end by breaking away in 1 March to create the Caledonian Popular Movement (MPC). Faced with this, the Rassemblement decides to reorganize itself and strengthen its communication strategy, around the personality of Pierre Frogier but with the highlighting of new personalities to break the image "aging" of the party. The party's steering committee of 16 ratifies the new organization: the presidency, responsible for directing the bodies of the movement and overseeing political orientations, remains with Pierre Frogier, now surrounded six vice-presidents including four of the six mayors of the party, the new president of the Assembly of the South Province Cynthia Ligeard as well as Soane Michel Motuhi-Uhilamoafa, deputy to the head of the joint military transit service of New Caledonia and former paratrooper of Wallisian origin. In addition to these notables, it is the general secretariat, responsible for the implementation of the project and the political program, which seems to symbolize the rejuvenation of the apparatus by being entrusted to Thierry Santa, who was already acting as this function since the dismissal of Sonia Backès, with at her side two deputies also in their forties: Yoann Lecourieux (40 years old), secretary general of the town hall of Dumbéa since its conquest by Georges Natural in 2008 (and previously responsible for the agglomeration contract at the town hall of Nouméa between 1998 and 2008), is responsible for the life of the movement; Virginie Ruffenach, municipal councilor of Nouméa delegate for educational success since 2008, is in charge of the program.

### President of Congress

In the wake of this Committee of signatories, a political recomposition is taking place in the loyalist family in the institutions. While a "Coordination of Republicans in New Caledonia" is set up, at the request of Nicolas Sarkozy, between the UCF and the Rassemblement, the coalition led until then by Gaël Yanno explodes over its implementation. Thus, Gaël Yanno, who wishes to run for the presidency of the Congress during the renewal of the office and commissions of the assembly on 16 and keeping a group UCF distinct from that of the FPU, sees its objectives thwarted by Sonia Backès. The latter, another founder of the MPC, resigned from local government on 10 to sit again within the Congress and announced the same day that he was joining a group "Les Républicains" also bringing together members of the FPU.

### President of the Rally

Once again an elected official of the opposition, Thierry Santa, who had left the general secretariat of Rassemblement in Virginie Ruffenach, became active again in the life of the movement. After the referendum of 4, Pierre Frogier finalizes the transmission of the queens of the party to the new generation by resigning from the presidency during a steering committee meeting in his stronghold of Boulari in Mont-Dore on 5 . Thierry Santa succeeds him on an interim basis. For the provincial elections of 12, he allied himself with Caledonian Republicans in 1 March in the electoral coalition of L'Avenir en confidant, forming a tandem with Sonia Backès to lead the list in South Province, the latter taking first place and him second. On 20, L'Avenir en confidant also became a political group at the Congress, and Thierry Santa took over as president. They achieved victory with 20 seats out of 40 in the Provincial Assembly, and became the first group of the Congress, with 18 seats out of 54.

### President of the Government of New Caledonia

On 28 June 2019, Thierry Santa is elected president of the government of New Caledonia. He takes office on the following 6 July. Three days later, on 9 July, he was also responsible for the coordination and control of the sectors of external relations and civil security (two areas generally managed directly by the head of the executive), tourist promotion, the strategy for the development of natural resources, the mining code and the social accounts within the Santa government.

## Personal life

Santa married Sabine Di Russo (born 1 February 1974) on 3 September 2010, the Human Resources Director of the company Nouméa Casinos.