[1] He contested the 1977 election as a candidate for Nedo Salmon's "New Polynesian Thought" list, but was unsuccessful.
[1] In February 1982 he joined Gaston Flosse's Tahoera'a Huiraatira, and four years later was its general secretary.
[2][3] Shortly after being elected he was convicted of misuse of corporate assets while a director of SETIL and given an eight-month suspended prison sentence.
[1] In 2001 he split with Flosse, attempting to form a breakaway Tahoera'a list and later founding the Manahune Party.
[5] The conviction was upheld on appeal in 2012, and he was sentenced to two years imprisonment (suspended) and a five million XPF fine.