# Maurice Ponga

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French politician (born 1947)

Maurice Ponga Member of the European Parliament for Overseas Territories In office 2009 (2009) – 2019 Preceded by Margie Sudre Personal details Born (1947-06-05) June 5, 1947 (age 79) Kouaoua, New Caledonia Citizenship French Party The Rally Relations Alcide Ponga (nephew)

**Maurice Ponga** (born 5 June 1947 in [Kouaoua](/source/Kouaoua), [New Caledonia](/source/New_Caledonia)) is a French politician who served as a [Member of the European Parliament](/source/Member_of_the_European_Parliament) (MEP) from 2009 until 2019. He was elected in the [2009 European election](/source/2009_European_Parliament_election_in_France) for the [Overseas](/source/Overseas_Territories_of_France_(European_Parliament_constituency)) constituency.

## Political career

Ponga is a [Melanesian](/source/Melanesians) ([Kanak](/source/Kanak_people)), but unlike most Kanaks, he opposes New Caledonia's independence from [France](/source/France) and is a member of [The Rally-UMP](/source/The_Rally-UMP), a major anti-independence party. He has represented the party, known as RPCR until 2002, in the [Congress of New Caledonia](/source/Congress_of_New_Caledonia) between 1995 and 2009. While in office, he participated in all but one New Caledonian government. Most recently, as Minister of Youth and Sports in the [Martin II](/source/Harold_Martin_(New_Caledonian_politician)) government, he played a major role in the success of [Noumea](/source/Noumea)'s bid for the 2011 [Pacific Games](/source/Pacific_Games).

In the 2009 European elections, Ponga was the UMP's candidate in the Pacific Section of the Overseas constituency, and his candidacy was locally supported by all anti-independence parties. The UMP won one seat in the constituency with 29.7% of the votes, and since the UMP obtained its highest result in the Pacific Section (44.4%), Ponga was elected to the [European Parliament](/source/European_Parliament). He is the second New Caledonian and second Kanak to serve as an MEP, after [Dick Ukeiwé](/source/Dick_Ukeiw%C3%A9) (also a member of the RPCR), who served between 1989 and 1994.

In the Republicans’ [2017 leadership election](/source/2017_The_Republicans_(France)_leadership_election), Ponga endorsed [Laurent Wauquiez](/source/Laurent_Wauquiez).[1]

## Recognition

In 2019, Ponga was the winner of the Development Award at *The Parliament Magazine'*s annual [MEP Awards](/source/The_Parliament_Magazine#The_MEP_Awards).[2]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Ludovic Vigogne (October 11, 2017), [La liste des 136 parrains de Laurent Wauquiez](https://www.lopinion.fr/edition/politique/liste-136-parrains-laurent-wauquiez-135723) *[L'Opinion](/source/L'Opinion_(French_newspaper))*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Hutchinson, Lorna (21 March 2019). ["MEP Awards 2019: Heartfelt reactions from our winners"](https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/articles/event-coverage/mep-awards-2019-heartfelt-reactions-our-winners). *[The Parliament Magazine](/source/The_Parliament_Magazine)*. Retrieved 13 August 2019.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Maurice Ponga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Ponga) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Ponga?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.