The embers have not been extinguished in New Caledonia, French territory in the Pacific, but discussions about reconstruction have already begun. Physical and also moral reconstruction. How to live together after the riots of these days? How to build, between the indigenous population and those of European origin, a “common destiny”, an expression that appeared in the decisive Nouméa agreements of 1998? Two New Caledonian leaders consulted this week by Morning Express provide their analyzes and proposals. “In New Caledonia we all live together!” cries independence activist Mickaël Forrest. And non-independence Philippe Gomès points out that, without consensus, “there is no salvation” for the archipelago.
Forrest, responsible for Foreign Relations in the Government of New Caledonia, has been traveling around the world for several weeks—from Venezuela to Singapore, from Paris to Madrid…—without being able to return home. From outside he has seen how his land burned. The riots have caused seven deaths and hundreds of injuries in recent weeks. They have left scenes of burned cars, looted businesses and closed airports: hence this politician, a member of the Executive of the Kanaky Socialist National Liberation Front, cannot return home. The situation, he admits, is very “difficult.” And he insists that only international mediation, whether through the United Nations or an external mediating figure, can help calm the waters.
The Kanaks—the community originating from this archipelago 16,500 kilometers from continental France, a country to which they have belonged since the time of Napoleon III, in the mid-19th century—want to overthrow the electoral reform promoted by President Emmanuel Macron, which would grant the right of voting rights to many French residents in New Caledonia, thus reducing the electoral weight of the natives. And they claim their right to self-determination. “We had decided to restart the dialogue, in the spirit of the people of the Pacific, especially the Melanesians, but the problems began with Macron’s attempt to impose his law,” says Forrest from the Congress of Deputies, where he has traveled. invited by the Bildu parliamentary group.
On the other side of the debate is Gomès. This leader of the Calédonie Ensemble party, a local deputy and a moderate non-independence supporter, advocates “rebuilding a consensus” between both camps. “Without this consensus,” he warns in writing from New Caledonia, “there is no salvation for our country. We will continue to experience riots and violence, as was the case between 1984 and 1988, a period called the events,in which there were almost 90 deaths.”
Gomès, president of the regional government between 2009 and 2011 and deputy in the National Assembly between 2012 and 2022, opposes the call for a new referendum with a “binary” response. That is, yes or no to independence. In the referendums of 2018, 2020 and 2021 he won the no to independence. The independentists boycotted the 2021 election.
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“A new binary referendum,” Gomès argues, “is not relevant.” “The economic crisis we are going through is of unprecedented magnitude and we need stability so that populations do not leave the country and investors have confidence to develop their projects,” he explains. “The three consultations that we experienced in 2018, 2020 and 2021 pitted citizens against each other, and contributed in part to the current unrest. If a new referendum is called in the future, it must deal with a project that we have built with pro-independence and non-independence supporters. A referendum that is not of one against another, but of one with another. A referendum that unites the New Caledonian people instead of dividing them.”
Gomès describes the current situation as a “cataclysm”, although he adds that “improvements have been noted in some areas”. “There are neighborhoods still blocked by independence barriers in Greater Noumea [la capital], which leads to difficulties in accessing the hospital or transporting food goods and medicines,” he describes. “Other barriers have been built in mainly European neighborhoods to protect themselves, since law enforcement is completely overwhelmed by the extent of the violence.”
Regarding Macron’s visit last week, he declared: “Today nothing is won, but the fact that the President of the Republic takes ownership of the issue himself by traveling to New Caledonia offers a new opportunity for peace and dialogue.”
colonial practice
Forrest calls warnings that New Caledonia could slide into civil war if unrest continues as “exaggerated.” “It is a colonial practice, on the part of France and some media outlets,” he says in a very slow tone, while recalling the episodes in recent years in which the Kanaks have shown signs, according to his story, of not having hurry, to go step by step and to seek dialogue and reject confrontation. The independence leader attributes all the obstacles to seeking an agreement to the Government of Paris. “We do not trust Macron’s team. That is why we demand international help. So that the external mediators give us some guarantee.”
In the midst of this interest in attracting international attention, the vice president of New Caledonia highlights the strength of its ties with other powers. “We have visited [Joe] Biden in the White House. And we have very good relations with China, which is our first buyer of nickel,” he says, visibly proud of those connections for a territory with a population of 270,000 inhabitants.
Is it perhaps this proximity to Beijing that may have led Macron to promote electoral reform, fearful that the territory of a strategic area such as the Pacific would move away from his area of interest? “Maybe,” he simply answers.
The lack of trust with Paris does not affect what happens within the archipelago. There, he assures, the distances between one community and another – the Kanaks represent around 41% of the local population and the Caldoches, inhabitants of European origin, 24% – are much smaller. “The Caldoches are closer to us. In New Caledonia we all live together!”
Forrest is convinced that, despite the considerable aid they receive from the metropolis, the inhabitants of New Caledonia would be better off if they achieved independence: “Because we would organize ourselves according to the Pacific way of life, like our neighbors in Vanuatu or Fiji.”
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