Jacques Lafleur was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 born in Nouméa

Nouméa

Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...

, New Caledonia

New Caledonia

New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...

.

Lafleur was a onetime leader of one of the two anti-independence parties in New Caledonia, the RPCR

Rally for Caledonia in the Republic

The The Rally–UMP is a conservative political party in New Caledonia, strongly supportive of the French status of the region; it is affiliated with the French Union for a Popular Movement.-History:...

 (Rally for Caledonia in the Republic). He was a signatory to the Matignon Accords

Matignon Agreements (1988)

Matignon Agreements refers to agreements signed in the Hotel Matignon by Jean-Marie Tjibaou and Jacques Lafleur on June 26, 1988, between loyalists, who wanted to keep New Caledonia as a part of the French Fifth Republic, and separatists, who did not...

 in 1988 and the Nouméa Accord

Nouméa Accord

The Nouméa Accord of 1998 promises to grant political power to New Caledonia and its original population, the Kanaks, until the territory decides whether to remain within the French Republic or become an independent state in a referendum to be held between 2014 and 2019...

 in 1998. He was elected deputy on 16 June 2002, for the 12th session of the legislature (2002–2007), representing the 1st district in New Caledonia, but lost his hold on power as a result of the elections of 9 May 2004, which propelled a new party, named "Future Together" (Avenir Ensemble), into control of government in South Province.

Conviction for slander

Lafleur, whose fortune stemmed partly from mining interests, reportedly slandered and intimidated Goldman Environmental Prize

Goldman Environmental Prize

The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists, one from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America. The prize includes a no-strings-attached award of...

 winner Bruno Van Peteghem

Bruno Van Peteghem

Bruno Van Peteghem was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2001, for his campaign to place the island's coral reef on UNESCO's World Heritage List in order to protect the reef against destruction from nickel mining industries.-References:...

 over Van Peteghem's efforts to protect the ecology of New Caledonia.

Offices held

• 1978–2002 : Deputy
• 7 March 1983 – 3 June 1997 : Nouméa
  Nouméa
  Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...
  
  Municipal Council Member (New Caledonia)
• 28 November 1984 – 29 September 1985 : New Caledonia Territorial Assembly Member
• 24 April 1988 – 11 June 1989 : President of the Council for the Southern Region of New Caledonia
• 11 June 1989 – 8 May 1999 : President of the Assembly for the Southern Region of New Caledonia