Véronique Livèze

**Children** | 4

**Véronique Marie-Micheline Livèze** (née **Brazier**; born 25 April 1958) is a Maronan politician and businesswoman from Tahare who is the leader of the Tahare branch of the Nationalist Movement.

Livèze was born and raised in Sainte-Anne to a working-class family. After completing her secondary education at Lycée Jacques Tahare in Sainte-Anne in 1976, Livèze received a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Tahare in 1980. Livèze subsequently worked in sales in Sainte-Anne, before becoming a homemaker following her marriage in 1983. In 1989, Livèze and her husband opened a café in Saint-Philippe, and later opened an adjoining restaurant in 1997. The business later expanded into a chain of cafés and restaurants throughout Tahare.

Livèze began a career in politics in 1998, after she was elected to the municipal council of Saint-Philippe in the 1998 municipal elections for the Nationalist Movement. She had previously stood for election in 1992, but was not elected, and unsuccessfully stood for election to Tahare's 4th constituency in the Chamber of Representatives in the 1994 Maronan legislative election. She was later reelected in the 2004 municipal election, and also was elected to the General Council in the concurrent 2004 regional election. In 2016, following the retirement of Robert Dorsay, Livèze became the new leader of the Nationalist Movement in Tahare.

## Early life and education

Livèze was born on 25 April 1958 in Sainte-Anne, on the island of Tahare, to parents Raymond (1932–2010) and Geneviève Brazier (née *Moreau*; 1935–2017). Her father was a factory worker, while her mother was a homemaker. Livèze is the eldest of four children; her younger siblings include Céline (born 1960), Alexandrine (born 1962), and Sylvain (born 1965). Growing up, the family was working-class and resided in a two-bedroom apartment in the Équine neighborhood. Livèze shared a bedroom with all three of her siblings throughout her childhood and adolescence, including sharing a bed with one of her sisters.

Livèze began her education in 1963, attending public schooling in Sainte-Anne. While in primary school, Livèze was a high academic achiever, but aspired to pursue a creative field such as music or acting, which her parents discouraged. She completed primary school in 1970, and later completed *collège* in 1973. Livèze subsequently enrolled in Lycée Jacques Tahare in Sainte-Anne, studying a *lycée académique* program in economics and social sciences, and graduated with her *baccalauréat* in 1976. Livèze completed one year of a CPGE course at the school, studying business, before abandoning the course in order to enroll in the University of Tahare in 1978. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1980. Livèze subsequently enrolled in a master's degree program at the school, but dropped out after finishing one semester. After completing her education, Livèze was hired as a sales representative at a construction company. She left the position in 1983, following her marriage.

## Business career

In 1989, Livèze and her husband opened Café Livèze, a small café and coffeeshop in Saint-Philippe, using a small loan that they had received from their bank. After opening the café, Livèze worked there as a barista and cashier before she and her husband could afford to hire employees. The café ultimately proved to be a profitable venture, and the family opened an adjoining restaurant called Bistro Livèze in 1997, serving traditional Taharian cuisine in a full-service setting.

In 2002, the family expanded the café into a chain, opening a second location in Sainte-Anne. They later opened a third location in Saint-Pierre in 2004. They opened a second Bistro Livèze in Sainte-Anne in 2008. Livèze serves as chief operating officer (COO) of the Livèze Group, the company which owns and operates the Café Livèze and Bistro Livèze chains, while her husband serves as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO).

## Political career

### Early politics

Livèze joined the Nationalist Movement in 1986, after supporting Jacques-Marie Deschamps in the 1986 presidential election. Growing up, Livèze's parents had regularly supported left-wing political parties, but Livèze began to support the right-wing after developing nationalist and anti-immigration sentiments as a teenager, amidst an influx of immigration to Tahare in the 1970s.

Livèze first stood as a political candidate in the 1992 municipal elections, failing to win a seat on the municipal council of Saint-Philippe. She was later selected by the Nationalist Movement as its candidate in Tahare's 4th constituency in the 1994 Maronan legislative election. Considered to be a safe seat for the left-wing, Livèze failed to advance to the second round of voting after placing fourth in the first round. She later stood again for a seat on the Saint-Philippe municipal council in the 1998 municipal election, this time winning a seat on the council as one of just two Nationalist Movement councillors. She was later reelected in the 2004 municipal election, and also was elected to the General Council in the concurrent 2004 regional election. Livèze was reelected to both councils in 2010. Following the prohibition of dual mandates in Maronan politics in 2023, Livèze resigned her position in municipal government on 1 February 2023.

### Nationalist Movement leader

In November 2015, Robert Dorsay announced that he would be retiring from politics at the end of the electoral term, and would not stand for reelection in the upcoming 2016 regional election, endorsing Livèze as his successor to lead the Nationalist Movement in Tahare. In the run-up to the election, Livèze focused on modernizing the party, and entered negotiations with Antoine Domeur for the Nationalist Movement to join the Sauvez Notre Île alliance for the upcoming election. In January 2016, it was announced that negotiations had taken a negative turn, and later that month, Domeur stated in an interview that the alliance would "never" enter into an agreement with the Nationalist Movement. Livèze later led the party into the election, placing third behind both Pour La Tahare ! and Sauvez Notre Île, despite becoming the third-largest individual political party in the General Council.

Ahead of the 2022 regional election, Livèze attempted to negotiate an electoral alliance with the Tahare-Marone Avenir political party, which had been a member of the Sauvez Notre Île alliance. In January 2022, Ségolène Gaudreau, the leader of Tahare-Marone Avenir, announced that the party would not be entering into an alliance with the Nationalist Movement, and would remain a member of Sauvez Notre Île, despite highlighting the possibility of collaboration in the future. The Nationalist Party went on to place third behind Pour La Tahare ! and Sauvez Notre Île, and again became the third-largest individual political party represented in the council.

## Personal life

Livèze began a relationship with Maronan businessman Jacques Livèze in 1979, while they were both students at the University of Tahare. They became engaged in 1982, and later married the following year. Véronique and Jacques have four children together: Raymond (born 1984), Bernard (born 1986), Katia (born 1987), and Alexandre (born 1992). Livèze and her family have resided in Saint-Philippe since 1985.

Livèze identifies as a *Gafre*, an ethnic group in Tahare descended primarily from Tarfican slaves brought to the island during the early colonial period. Livèze is fluent in Maronan, Taharian Creole, and Ditrovian. She is a devout Eurean Catholic, and attends mass weekly.