Arthur de Laborde with AFP / Photo credits: LUDOVIC MARIN / POOL / AFP
The day after a visit by President Emmanuel Macron, who promised that the contested electoral reform on the archipelago would “not pass in force”, but maintained the course of an end to the crisis by the end of June. Arriving Thursday morning in Nouméa, the head of state held consultations with the loyalists, in favor of this reform, and the separatists, who are hostile to it. This so-called “thaw” reform plans to expand the electorate for provincial elections. It was this text which ignited the powder and triggered a wave of violence that the island had not seen for four decades.
“I am committed to ensuring that this reform does not pass through force”
The rioters, whose anger it provoked on May 13, before its adoption by the National Assembly on May 15, consider the way in which it has moved forward unacceptable, when according to them it will dilute the weight of indigenous people in life policy. “I am committed to ensuring that this reform does not pass through force,” promised Emmanuel Macron. But he asked for “the resumption of dialogue with a view to a global agreement” to grant the right to vote to more voters, by the end of June, so that “this agreement can then be submitted to the vote of Caledonians “. To check whether all the conditions will be met, the President undertakes to provide a progress update within a month.
Before this political deadline, the “objective is to restore order in the days to come,” he warned. “We are therefore going to take back step by step each neighborhood, each roundabout, each roadblock”, with among others “3,000 internal security forces”.
New Caledonia, “it’s not the Wild West”
In a television interview with New Caledonian journalists broadcast on Friday, he justified the forces involved: New Caledonia, “it’s not the Wild West”. “What I am asking immediately is the lifting of all blockages, the lifting of points of violence, and that there be a clear call for these liftings. By the FNLKS, the CCAT and all those responsible,” he added.
The FNLKS is an independence movement invited to the negotiations, and the CCAT a radical independence organization accused by the authorities of fueling violence. Six deaths, including two gendarmes, and considerable damage have been reported since the start of the clashes.
The state of emergency established on May 16 continues to prevail, with the accompanying measures: 12-hour daily curfew, ban on gatherings, transport of weapons and sale of alcohol, ban on TikTok app. This last measure, attacked before the Council of State, was confirmed by the administrative jurisdiction on Thursday. The roadblocks set up by the rioters also remain in place.