The French president Emmanuel Macron said this Thursday during a visit to New Caledonia that he will not impose a controversial electoral reform that has caused deadly unrest in that French Pacific territory, and that he wants to give time for local leaders to propose an alternative agreement for the future of the archipelago.
Speaking after a day of meetings with leaders from both sides, Macron presented a plan that he said could lead to another referendum in the archipelago in which indigenous Kanak want independence and leaders sympathetic to Paris are against it.
In three previous referendums, held between 2018 and 2021, people voted in favor of “no” and against independence. Macron said another referendum could be held regarding a new political pact for the archipelago that, he hopes, local leaders can agree to in the coming weeks and months, after that the protesters’ barricades be dismantled, which will allow the state of emergency to be lifted and peace to return.
“I have promised that this reform will not be imposed by force today, in the current context, and that we give ourselves a few weeks to calm down and resume dialogue with a vision towards a global agreement,” he said.
The electoral reform has already been approved by both chambers of the French parliament in Paris. The next step was to hold a special congress of both chambers in Versailles to approve the changes to the French Constitution that were required to implement it. This was expected to occur at the end of June. But Macron’s comments in Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, indicate that he is now willing to change tactics and buy more time for an alternative agreementperhaps more palatable to independence leaders, who fear that the electoral change will marginalize Kanak voters.
This announcement by Macron came at the end of a whirlwind visit aimed at de-escalating the most serious violence since the 1980s in the archipelago of 270,000 inhabitants, with decades of tensions over the question of independence between the Kanak and the descendants of settlers and other settlers. Macron also visited the territory in 2018 and 2023, in calmer times.
Macron repeatedly pushed for the removal of protesters’ barricades and said that Police sent to help combat shootings, arson, looting and other disturbances “will remain as long as necessary”even as security officers back in France focus in the coming weeks on safeguarding the Paris Olympics.
His round trip from Paris, of about 32,000 kilometers, to spend the day in New Caledonia, put the weight of his position at the service of the crisis, which has left six dead and a trail of destruction.
Pro-independence Kanak leaders, who a week earlier rejected Macron’s offer for video talks, joined a meeting the French leader organized with rival pro-Paris leaders who want that New Caledonia remains part of France, which took possession of the territory in 1853 under the rule of Emperor Napoleon III. Macron also met separately with both sides.
Macron called for a minute of silence for the six people killed in the shootings, including two gendarmes. He then urged local leaders to use his influence to help restore order. He said that the state of emergency imposed by Paris on May 15 for at least 12 days to strengthen police powers could only be lifted if local leaders call for the removal of the barricades that protesters and people trying to protect their neighborhoods have erected in Noumea and beyond.
“Everyone has the responsibility to really call for the lifting of the barricades, the cessation of all forms of attack, not simply calm,” he declared.
Barricades, made up of burned-out vehicles and other debris, have turned parts of Noumea into no-go zones and made travel dangerous.both for the sick in need of medical treatment and for families worried about food and water after stores were looted and burned.
According to the French authorities, More than 280 people have been arrested since violence broke out on May 13, as French lawmakers in Paris debated controversial changes to New Caledonia’s electoral lists.
The unrest was still latent upon Macron’s arrival, despite the curfew from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. and more than 1,000 reinforcements for the police and gendarmerie of the archipelago, which now has 3,000 troops.
“I’m going to be very clear. These forces will remain as long as necessary. Even during the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” which open in Paris on July 26, Macron said.
At Nouméa central police station, Macron thanked officers for confronting what he described as “an absolutely unprecedented insurrection movement.”
“No one saw it coming with this level of organization and violence,” he said. “They did their duty. And I thank you.”
Burning, looting and other violence against hundreds of businesses, homes, shops, public buildings and other locations in and around Nouméa have caused destruction estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars. This week, military flights evacuated stranded tourists.
Macron traveled to the archipelago under pressure from French politicians and pro-independence supporters to delay or suppress the review of the electoral system. The measure would expand the number of voters in provincial elections for New Caledonia’s legislative assembly and government, adding some 25,000 voters, including people who have resided in the archipelago for at least 10 years and others born there.
Opponents fear the move will benefit New Caledonia’s pro-French politicians and further marginalize the Kanak, who in the past suffered strict segregation policies and widespread discrimination. Supporters say the proposed reform is democratically important for people with roots in New Caledonia who are currently unable to vote for local representatives.
In the past, Macron has facilitated dialogue between divided camps for and against independence. France’s efforts included three referendums in which voters were asked if they wanted independence. Each time they voted no, but the last referendum in 2021 was boycotted by the independentists.
(AP)
