Ophélie Artaud / Photo credit: Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP
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9:20 a.m., May 19, 2024
The situation remains extremely tense in New Caledonia, where six people have died since the start of the riots. The government’s desire to unfreeze the electoral body is at the origin of this anger, and many voices are being raised to suspend this constitutional bill. This is particularly the case of Marine Tondelier, who considers at the microphone of Europe 1 that “the government has set fire to the island”.
Six deaths in six days of riots. In New Caledonia, the situation remains extremely tense since the start of the violence last Monday. Anger provoked by the government’s desire to unfreeze the electorate, via constitutional reform. In the opposition, many voices are being raised to suspend this constitutional bill. This is particularly the case of Marine Tondelier, who considers this “obvious”. Guest from Europe 1 morning weekend, the national secretary of Europe Écologie-Les Verts (EELV) considers that “we have a government which has set fire to the island, by doing the opposite of what it was necessary.”
Concretely, via this constitutional reform, the government wishes to return to the Nouméa agreements of 1998, and in particular the rule limiting the right to vote to people living in the archipelago before that date. The executive therefore plans to reintegrate into the Caledonian electoral body citizens born on the archipelago or residing there for at least ten years. This would result in the inclusion of 25,000 people on the electoral lists. For Marine Tondelier, “as long as we do not suspend the examination of this constitutional bill, as long as we do not put on hold this story of thawing of the electorate, then calm is not likely to return”.
“The French state owes a debt to New Caledonia”
Especially since, according to the national secretary of EELV, “the French state owes a debt to New Caledonia: the Kanaks were there, their island was transformed into a settlement colony. France must start by apologizing “, she says at the microphone of Europe 1. “It is not a question of saying that only Kanaks have the right to live in New Caledonia, but they must be respected. ” For Marine Tondelier, a return to normal could only happen through “respect, appeasement, humility”: highlighting the “economic and ecological violence” that exists in New Caledonia, the leader of EELV considers that “there are many subjects to be dealt with on this island, and to deal with them seriously, we must return to calm and therefore suspend the examination of this bill”.
For his part, Emmanuel Macron called on the New Caledonian representatives to “find an agreement”. If this is not found, Congress will be convened “before the end of June” to definitively adopt the constitutional revision.