Emmanuel Macron began his whirlwind visit to New Caledonia on Thursday morning, hoping for a return “as quickly as possible” to “peace, calm, security”, but also to “dialogue” after a week of riots which left the archipelago deeply bruised and in political impasse. “My desire (…) is to be alongside the population so that as quickly as possible, there is a return to peace, calm, security. This is the priority of priorities,” declared the head of state as soon as he got off the plane at Nouméa airport.
State of emergency unlikely to be extended
While since the start of the riots on the French Pacific archipelago, six people have been killed, including two mobile gendarmes, he observed a minute of silence as a preamble to a meeting with elected officials and economic players. Arriving alongside ministers Gérald Darmanin (Interior), Sébastien Lecornu (Armies) and Marie Guévenoux (Overseas), Emmanuel Macron promised “decisions” and “announcements” at “the end of this day”, even if he assured that he had “no limit” of time on site.
The president underlined that “many populations are suffering today”, citing the difficulties of access to care, but also “supply”, ten days after an eruption of unprecedented violence on the archipelago for almost 40 years, which still leave entire neighborhoods difficult to access.
Determined to restore order, Emmanuel Macron assured that the approximately 3,000 members of the security forces deployed “will stay as long as necessary, even during the Olympic and Paralympic Games” in Paris which end at the beginning of September. As for the state of emergency, in force for a week, he “thinks” that it “should not be extended” beyond the legal 12 days, provided that “all the leaders” of the archipelago ” call for the blockades to be lifted.
The head of state calls for “constructive appeasement”
Accompanied by the three senior officials who will be responsible for renewing dialogue with separatists and non-separatists, Emmanuel Macron called for “constructive appeasement” and the search for a political “solution”. But without going back to the result of the three referendums which confirmed the maintenance of the overseas territory in the Republic, because “appeasement cannot be a step backwards”, he argued.
However, he did not say clearly at this stage how he intended to clear away what was the detonator of the riots, namely the vote in the National Assembly to thaw the electoral body of the archipelago. A constitutional reform decried by the separatists and which must still be voted on by the deputies and senators meeting in Congress before the end of June, unless an agreement on a global text between separatists and loyalists is reached by then.
Emmanuel Macron says he comes with “determination” and “respect”
A challenge when the dialogue is at a standstill, prompting a large part of the political class, even within the Macronist camp, to request a postponement of the Congress. In this perspective, Emmanuel Macron, who is attempting a real gamble with this improvised trip, said he comes with “determination”, but with “also a lot of respect, humility”. His last trip to the archipelago, in July 2023, was boycotted by Kanak separatists.
Thursday, separatists Roch Wamytan, president of the Congress of New Caledonia, and Louis Mapou, president of the New Caledonian government, were present at the first meeting around the head of state.
On the ground, “the night was calm,” High Commissioner Louis Le Franc told AFP on Thursday morning. “There was no additional damage but there are so many things that are destroyed,” he further argued.
On the road which connects Dumbéa (north of the capital) to Nouméa, littered with numerous burned-out vehicle carcasses, filter dams persist, noted an AFP journalist Thursday morning. And in Greater Nouméa, the dams have been strengthened. Many independence flags and banners, for example expressing “No to the thaw” or “Darmanin assassin”, still float in the air.
Life is resuming in the center of Nouméa, where many stores have reopened their doors, supervised by a strong police presence. But a return to normal is not yet in order: the government has called to order in a press release “certain traders (who) are taking advantage of the circumstances to exaggerately increase the prices of their products, some of which are regulated, making this totally illegal practice.
The archipelago targeted by a cyber attack
And to add to the instability, the archipelago was also targeted by a cyberattack of “unprecedented strength” aimed at “saturating the Caledonian network”, announced Christopher Gygès, member of the Caledonian collegial government. An attack stopped “before there was significant damage”, he assured.
New Caledonia is strategic for France, which wants to strengthen its influence in Asia-Pacific and due to its rich nickel resources, an essential mineral for the manufacture of electric vehicles in particular.