A group of pro-independence leaders charged with allegedly organising protests that turned into violent unrest in New Caledonia last month have been indicted and transferred to mainland France where they will be held in custody pending trial.

Christian Téin and 10 others were arrested by French security forces during a dawn operation in Nouméa last Wednesday.

Since then, they have been held for a preliminary period not exceeding 96 hours.

• READ MORE:  New Caledonia independence activists sent to France for detention
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‘If this was about making new martyrs of the pro-independence cause, then there would not have been a better way to do it.’

— A defence lawyer

The indicted group members are suspected of “giving orders” within a “Field Action Coordinating Cell” (CCAT) that was set up last year by Union Calédonienne (UC), the largest and one of the more radical parties forming the pro-independence FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) unbrella group.

On behalf of CCAT, Téin organised a series of marches and protests, mainly peaceful, in New Caledonia, to oppose plans by the French government to change eligibility rules for local elections, which the pro-independence movement said would further marginalise indigenous Kanak voters.

Late on Saturday, New Caledonia’s Public Prosecutor Yves Dupas told local media the indictment followed a decision made by one of the two “liberties and detention” judges dedicated to the case on the same day.

The judge had ruled that Christian Téin should be temporarily transferred to a jail in Mulhouse (northeastern France), Téin’s lawyer Pierre Ortet told media.

Téin was seen entering the investigating judge’s chambers on Saturday afternoon, local time, and leaving the office about half an hour later after he had been told of his indictment.

Other suspects include Brenda Wanabo-Ipeze, described as the CCAT’s communications officer, who is to be transferred to another French jail in Dijon (southeast France).

Frédérique Muliava, described as chief-of-staff of New Caledonia’s Congress President Roch Wamytan (also a major figure of the UC party), is to be sent to another jail in Riom (near Clermont-Ferrand, Central France).

The “presumed order-givers of the acts committed starting from 12 May 2024” are facing a long list of charges, including incitement, conspiracy, and complicity to instigate murders on officers entrusted with public authority.

The transfer was decided to “ensure investigations can continue in a serene way and away from any pressure”, Dupas said.

‘Shock’, ‘surprise’, ‘stupor’ reactions
Thomas Gruet, Wanabo-Ipeze’s lawyer, commented with shock about the judge’s decision: “My client would never have imagined ending up here. She is extremely shocked because, in her view, this is just about activism.”

He said his client had “spent the whole of her first night (of indictment) handcuffed”.

Gruet said he was “extremely shocked and astounded” by this decision.

“I believe all the mistakes regarding the management of this crisis have now been made by the judiciary, which has responded politically. My client is an activist who has never called for violence. This will be a long trial, but we will demonstrate that she has never committed the charges she faces.”

About midnight local time, Gruet was seen bringing his client a large pink suitcase containing a few personal effects which he had collected from her house.

The transferred suspects are believed to have boarded a special flight in the early hours of Sunday.

Téin’s lawyer, Pierre Ortet, said “we are surprised and in a stupor”.

“We have already appealed (the ruling). Mr Téin intends to defend himself against the charges. It will be a long and complicated case.”

Another defence lawyer, Stéphane Bonomo, commented: “If this was about making new martyrs of the pro-independence cause, then there would not have been a better way to do it.”

On the French national political level and in the context of electoral campaigning ahead of the snap general election, to be held on 30 June and 7 July, far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said the decision to transfer Téin was “an alienation of his rights and a gross and dramatic political mistake”.

Other indicted persons
Among other persons who were indicted at the weekend are Guillaume Vama and Joël Tjibaou, the son of charismatic pro-independence FLNKS leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou, who signed the Matignon Accord peace agreement in 1988 and was assassinated one year later by a hardline member of the pro-independence movement.

Tjibaou and several others have asked for a delay to prepare their defence and they will be heard tomorrow.

Pending that hearing, they will not be transferred to mainland France and will be kept in custody in Nouméa, Tjibaou’s lawyer Claire Ghiani said.

Why CCAT leaders are targeted
The indicted group members are suspected of giving the orders within the CCAT.

The constitutional amendment that would allow voters residing in New Caledonia for a minimum period of 10 years to take part in New Caledonia’s provincial elections, has been passed by both of France’s houses of Parliament (the Senate, on April 2 and the French National Assembly, on May 14).

But the text, which still requires a final vote from the French Congress (a joint sitting of both Houses), has now been “suspended” by President Macron, mainly due to his calling of the snap general election on June 30 and July 7.

Violent riots involving the burning, and looting of more than 600 businesses and 200 residential homes, erupted mainly in the capital Nouméa starting from May 13.

Nine people, including two French gendarmes, have died as a result of the violent clashes.

More than 7000 people are already believed to have lost their jobs for a total financial damage estimate now well over 1 billion euros (NZ$1.8 billion) as a result of the unrest.

CCAT has consistently denied responsibility for the grave ongoing and violent civil unrest and Téin was featured on public television “calling for calm”.

Fresh clashes in Nouméa and outer islands
Meanwhile, there has been a new upsurge of violence and clashes in Nouméa and its surroundings, including the townships of Dumbéa (where about 30 rioters attempted to attack the local police station) and the neighbourhoods of Vallée-du-Tir, Magenta and Tuband, reports NC la 1ère TV.

On the outer island of Lifou (Loyalty Islands group, northeast of the main island), the airstrip was damaged and as a result, all Air Calédonie flights were cancelled.

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An “organic law” to postpone New Caledonia’s provincial elections has passed the final hurdle and been endorsed by the French National Assembly.

During a session on Monday marked by poor attendance (only 104 MPs out of 577) and sometimes heated debates, 71 French MPs voted in favour and 31 against.

Late February, the same Bill was also endorsed by the French Upper House, the Senate, by a large majority of 307 for and 34 against.

• READ MORE: Other Kanaky New Caledonia politics reports

The “organic law” effectively moves the date of New Caledonia’s provincial elections (initially scheduled for May 2024) to December 15 “at the latest”.

The date change was clearly designed to provide more time for local politicians to arrive at an inclusive and bipartisan agreement which would lay the foundations for a political agreement and a new institutional status after the Nouméa Accord (signed in 1998) has been in force in the French Pacific archipelago for the past 25 years.

The Accord had prescribed that three self-determination referendums should take place in New Caledonia, which was the case over the past five years.

All three consultations (held in 2018, 2020 and 2021) yielded a narrow “no” to independence, although the third one (held in late 2021) had been contested by the pro-independence movement after a boycott due to the impact of the covid pandemic on indogenous Kanaks.

The Nouméa Accord stipulated that after those three referendums had been held, and if they had resulted in three “no” notes, then politicians should meet and hold forward-looking talks to analyse “the situation thus created”.

Over the past two years, France has tried to create the conditions for those talks to be held, but some components of the pro-independence umbrella FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) are yet to join the local and inclusive format of the political talks.

In the pro-French camp, divisions have also surfaced with some parties attending talks but refusing to sit with other pro-French components.

Constitutional changes
The postponement of provincial elections now paves the way for another French government project, promoted by Home Affairs and Overseas Minister Gérald Darmanin — who has visited New Caledonia half a dozen times since 2023 — for a constitutional amendment directly related to New Caledonia’s political future.

The amendment is also related to local elections in the sense that it purports to modify the conditions of eligibility once prescribed, on a transitional basis, by the Nouméa Accord.

What has been since referred to as the “frozen” electoral roll (enforced since 2007) allowed only French citizens who had resided in New Caledonia before 1998 to vote in those provincial elections (for the three parliaments of the Southern, Northern and Loyalty Islands provinces).

The Constitutional amendment, if adopted by the French Congress (a special joint gathering of both the Upper and Lower Houses — the Senate and the National Assembly) by a majority of three fifths, would now change this and allow citizens to vote in the local elections provided they have been residing in New Caledonia for at least 10 uninterrupted years.

Darmanin has on several occasions defended the draft amendment, saying the “frozen” roll was not compatible with France’s “democratic principles” — that it effectively denied about 25,000 citizens (both indigenous Kanaks and non-Kanaks) in New Caledonia the right to vote at the local elections.

The new text would re-introduce “minimal democratic conditions”.

The constitutional amendment has been strongly criticised by pro-independence parties, who fear the “unfrozen” version of the electoral roll would create a situation whereby they could become a minority.

Currently, through the old system, pro-independence parties hold the majority in two of the three provincial assemblies (North and Loyalty Islands) as well as in New Caledonia’s territorial government (presided by a pro-independence leader, Louis Mapou).

The provincial elections results are also crucial in the sense that they are followed by a “trickle-down” effect — the Congress (territorial parliament) makeup is based on their results, and, in turn, the Congress members choose New Caledonia’s President who then chooses a “collegial” government.

“The minimum 10-year period seems perfectly reasonable and those who are against this are in fact against democracy,” Darmanin told reporters during his latest visit to New Caledonia last month.

Constitutional amendment debates
The postponement of provincial elections is designed to give local politicians more time to arrive at a French-desired local, inclusive and consensual agreement on New Caledonia’s political and institutional future.

Darmanin has also repeatedly insisted that if such agreement was reached “before July 1”, the French-drafted constitutional amendment would be replaced by the contents agreed locally and then submitted to the French Congress.

“I’ve always said that if there was a local agreement, even if we were just a few metres away from concluding such an agreement, we would look at the possibility of postponing or even stopping the constitutional process to include the new text,” he stressed last month.

Process gaining momentum
“But for now, all I can see is people not turning up at meetings and not taking their responsibilities,” he added.

The pro-independence umbrella FLNKS is due to hold its Congress on 23 March 23 amid apparent divisions within its component parties.

The French-drafted constitutional amendment is to begin its legislative journey on March 20 before the Senate’s Law Committee, then on March 27 during a Senate debate and then on May 13 before the French National Assembly.

Over the past few days, several French MPs have visited New Caledonia during fact-finding field missions.

The first one was a delegation of four MPs from the French Senate’s Law Committee which met a wide spectrum of local politicians ahead of the March 20 session in Paris.

Over two days, they claim to have held 26 “auditions” with a wide range of political and administrative players in New Caledonia in order to “better understand everyone’s respective positions”.

“Discussions were frank and in a climate of trust”, delegation leader and the Senate’s Law Committee President, Senator François-Noël Buffet, told a press conference on Monday.

Politicians urged to find their own agreement
“We would have liked an inclusive agreement between all of New Caledonia’s players. But for the time being, it’s not there yet . . .  But if an agreement comes, we’ll take it . . .  In fact, it would be best if things did not drag for too long,” Buffet said.

Before the senatorial visit, three MPs from the French National Assembly have also spent three days in New Caledonia, as part of a similar fact-finding mission.

But their trip came under a wider mission that also included French Polynesia and Wallis-and-Futuna to study possible statutory and institutional “evolutions” for France’s overseas territories.

They also commented on New Caledonia’s proposed constitutional amendment.

“This is a real tension-generating project . . .  It is therefore important that an agreement is found between [New] Caledonia’s politicians and to avoid that the French Parliament has to make a decision on New Caledonia’s future status.

“A decision concerning the future of nearly 300,000 people should not be left to French MPs, who know nothing about New Caledonia’s issues,” MP Davy Rimane told a press conference in Nouméa last Friday.

“So I’m urging my Caledonian colleagues to reach an agreement.”

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A former New Caledonia-based High Commissioner, Patrice Faure, has been appointed Chief-of-Staff of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Faure is described as an expert on French overseas territories, particularly New Caledonia.

The 56-year-old prefect was France’s representative (High Commissioner) in New Caledonia between 2021 and 2023, a period marked by the covid pandemic, but also the last two of three referendums held over the French Pacific territory’s possible independence.

• READ MORE: French government announces constitutional amendments for New Caledonia
• Other New Caledonia reports

He was also tasked to organise the first attempts to bring together pro-France and pro-independence political parties to talk and make suggestions on New Caledonia’s political and institutional future.

Faure was replaced in Nouméa by Louis Le Franc in early 2023.

French daily Le Monde suggests that Faure’s appointment would enable French President Macron to have a close adviser on New Caledonia’s developments in the coming months.

While French Home Affairs and Overseas minister Gérald Darmanin has travelled half a dozen times to New Caledonia throughout 2023, France’s efforts to foster bipartisan and simultaneous talks have not yet come to fruition.

UC refuses to join talks
One political party wjich is a member of the pro-independence umbrella (FLNKS) — the Union Calédonienne (UC) — is still refusing to join those talks.

French PM Elisabeth Borne gave New Caledonia’s political parties until 1 July 2024 to come up with collective suggestions on the sensitive subject.

Borne also announced over Christmas that her government would table a Constitutional amendment to “unfreeze” New Caledonia’s electoral roll and enable French citizen residing there for over 10 years to vote in local elections.

While Darmanin is scheduled to come back to New Caledonia early in the year, Finance Minister Bruno Lemaire will also visit again to supervise a far-reaching reform plan to solve New Caledonia’s “critical” situation in the nickel mining industry.

In February 2024, Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti will also travel there to provide more details about the construction of a new French-funded prison at an estimated cost of €498 million (NZ$873 million).

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The president of New Caledonia’s largest pro-independence party Daniel Goa will not be prosecuted for alleged calls for violence and sedition.

Last month, a coalition of anti-independence parties had lodged a formal complaint with the Public Prosecutor over a speech given by Goa at a party meeting.

Goa had said there was a risk of there being no more provincial elections if the restricted rolls were opened to people who arrived after the signing of the 1998 Noumea Accord.

• READ MORE: Caledonian Union vows to end French ‘neo-colonial putsch’ in Pacific
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The anti-independence coalition had also accused Goa of sedition after he said his party might turn to foreign powers.

After questioning Goa, the Prosecutor decided there were insufficient grounds to lay charges.

The anti-independence parties want Paris to abolish the restrictions by changing the French Constitution and granting voting rights to the estimated 40,000 migrants who have settled since the Accord signing.

In March, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the 2024 provincial elections would not go ahead with the restricted rolls.

Earlier this month, another Caledonian Union politician Gilbert Tyuienon warned that dialogue would end should Goa be taken to court for expressing what the party membership felt.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The president of New Caledonia’s Southern Province Sonia Backès has been given a post in France’s reshuffled and enlarged 42-member government.

The prime minister Elisabeth Borne appointed her as the secretary of citizenship within the interior ministry, which has integrated the overseas ministry.

The reshuffle means that the position of overseas minister has been abolished and replaced with a minister delegate, a post given to Jean-Francois Carenco.

• READ MORE: Other New Caledonia politics reports

The previous minister, Yael Braun-Pivet, resigned last month after just one month in office to successfully run for the presidency of the French National Assembly.

Backès said that while joining the French Interior Ministry she would retain her position as president of the Southern Province.

She is the first politician from New Caledonia to become part of the government of France.

This year, she spearheaded a merger of four anti-independence parties in New Caledonia to support the election campaign for President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party in last month’s election of a new French National Assembly.

Both of New Caledonia’s seats in Paris were won by her coalition’s candidates.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

New Caledonia’s first round of the French National Assembly election has seen surprise advances of the pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) whose two candidates both made it to next Sunday’s run-off round.

Wali Wahetra came second in the constituency made up of the anti-independence stronghold Noumea plus the mainly Kanak Loyalty Islands and the Isle of Pines.

Her success marks the first time in 15 years that an FLNKS candidate has qualified for the second round there.

• READ MORE: Macron’s centrists neck-and-neck with Socialists-Green bloc in French elections
• Other New Caledonian election reports

“The goal was attained for the first round”, she said and thanked “those who think our struggle is legitimate and noble”.

Sunday’s voting was the first since the referendum on independence from France in December when the FLNKS boycotted the event, which then saw 96 percent vote against independence.

The election was open to all French citizens in New Caledonia, in contrast to the referendum, for which the roll was restricted to indigenous people and long-term residents.

Turnout was 33 percent, which was a one-percent drop over the previous National Assembly election in 2017.

Lift in independence vote
However, there was a slight lift in areas traditionally voting for independence because last time a key FLNKS party, the Caledonian Union, had called for abstaining.

With the joint FLNKS call to go out and vote, Wahetra secured 22 percent of the vote while the winner in the constituency Philippe Dunoyer got 41 percent.

Seeking re-election for another five-year term, Dunoyer stood for a newly formed Ensemble, which is a four-party coalition linked for the purpose of this election to French President Emmanuel Macron.

In the other constituency, encompassing the main island minus Noumea, the anti-independence candidate Nicolas Metzdorf won 34 percent of the vote, a narrow advantage over the FLNKS candidate Gerard Reignier with 33 percent.

Reignier said: “We gave us a goal of making it to the second round and we made it to the second round”.

Seventeen candidates contested Sunday’s election, including a former president Thierry Santa of the Rassemblement, which had historically been the key anti-independence party.

He won, however, just 22 percent, clearly distanced by Metzdorf and Reignier.

The Rassemblement’s other candidate, Virginie Ruffenach, also came third in her southern constituency, winning 14 percent of the vote.

Reacting to her defeat, Ruffenach urged her supporters to back Dunoyer in the run-off to ensure the anti-independence parties keep being represented in Paris.

Single candidate tactic
The success of the FLNKS has in part been explained by its member parties agreeing to run a single candidate in each of the two constituencies.

After shunning the referendum in December, it campaigned for the two seats in the hope of getting a representative elected to the French Assembly to have its quest for sovereignty heard.

The result also confirmed the political divide entrenched for years and largely along geographical and ethnic lines.

The polarisation is such that Reignier won more than 90 percent of votes in the northern electorates known for their pro-independence stance.

The anti-independence camp has been riven for years by varying rivalries but for the National Assembly election, four parties formed the Ensemble group, which Metzdorf considered to be a success.

Metzdorf, who is mayor of La Foa and the leader of Generations NC, joined as did Dunoyer of Caledonia Together Party, which had won both seats in 2017.

In the 2018 provincial election, Caledonia Together was weakened and the party leader, Philippe Gomes, who had held one of the two Paris seats for a decade, did not seek re-election this year.

First round victories hailed
Sonia Backes, who is the president of the Southern Province and the anti-independence politician representing the French president in New Caledonia, hailed the first-round victories of the Ensemble candidates.

She welcomed the support immediately expressed by the defeated Rassemblement politicians, saying there must be a united “loyalist” camp.

Backes added that perhaps the new French overseas minister might visit next week while the law commission of the French Senate will conduct a fact-finding mission in preparation of a new statute for New Caledonia.

Many candidates expressed concern about the low turnout, saying some thought has to be given to finding ways of engaging the public.

With campaigning resuming for next Sunday’s run-off, the two camps are aware that a large pool of voters could be mobilised on both sides.

The anti-independence side is however poised to bolster the support for its two candidates as the losing contenders in its ranks can add their backing for Dunoyer and Metzdorf.

This leaves scant hope for the FLNKS to win a seat in Paris — one of 577 on offer.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Two parties of New Caledonia’s pro-independence FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) movement have restated their intention to attain the territory’s decolonisation from France after last December’s referendum – mostly boycotted by the indigenous Kanak population — in which a majority of voters opted to stay with France.

The two parties, Palika and the Caledonian Union, held their first key meetings since the plebiscite over the weekend after the covid-19 outbreak forced the cancellation of their planned gatherings in January.

They restated that they did not recognise the referendum result, which showed 96.5 percent voted against independence.

• READ MORE: Other Kanaky New Caledonia independence reports

Pro-independence parties boycotted the vote after France refused to defer the third and final referendum under the Noumea Accord, rejecting concerns about the impact of the pandemic on the indigenous Kanak population.

Consequently, turnout plummeted to below 44 percent, in contrast to the second referendum in 2020 when turnout was more than 85 percent.

The Kanak said already before the last vote that the result would be invalid because it excluded the voice of the colonised people.

Rejecting the outcome of the plebiscite, the pro-independence parties mounted a court challenge in France, and plan to campaign internationally for its annulment.

New independence referendum by 2024
At the weekend Palika Congress, spokesperson Charles Washetine suggested holding another independence referendum by 2024 to complete the decolonisation process — this time with the participation of the Kanak people.

Washetine added that it should be run by the United Nations.

In December, the pro-independence side also said it would not enter any negotiations with Paris until after the French presidential election in April.

Political parties have been asked to submit suggestions of what the new statute of a New Caledonia with France should look like.

The plan is to include civil society in its preparation and have a document ready by June next year for New Caledonians to vote on.

The pro-independence side has so far rejected any co-operation in any such project, insisting that its talks with Paris will only be about ways of winning independence.

The vote in December ended the 1998 Noumea Accord, but its provisions leave the current institutions in place until a post-accord arrangement has been adopted.

Restrictions in the electoral roll to indigenous people and long-term residents remain, but the anti-independence side would like the voter eligibility widened to include the about 40,000 French citizens currently excluded from referendums and provincial elections.

The Caledonian Union leader, Daniel Goa, told the weekend party meeting that changing the roll would be a serious political mistake.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

A committee has been set up in New Caledonia to support the re-election of French President Emmanuel Macron although he is yet to announce whether he will again seek office next April.

The committee is headed by the mayor of Noumea Sonia Lagarde, who said Macron’s support for New Caledonia had been “flawless”.

More than 96 percent voted against independence in last Sunday’s vote, which was boycotted by the pro-independence camp because of the impact of the pandemic.

• READ MORE: Other New Caledonia independence reports

She said that if New Caledonians voted in three referendums to stay with France, it was due to Macron’s commitment.

However, in both the previous referendums in 2018 and 2020 contested by the pro-independence supporters, the defeat in the plebiscites was narrow, with only 10,000 votes separating the two sides last year.

In 2017, in the decisive second round of the last presidential election, Macron secured 53 percent of New Caledonia’s votes against 47 percent for Marine Le Pen of the National Rally.

In the mainly anti-independence Southern Province, only 46 percent voted for Macron.

In the first round, he came a distant third behind Francois Fillon and Le Pen, with just 13 percent support.

French military vehicle vandalised
A French military truck has been destroyed in an arson attack in the north of New Caledonia.

Prosecutors say two individuals carrying a canister of petrol entered a parking area in Poindimie and set the truck alight.

Another vehicle had been doused with petrol but the two were chased away by an officer on guard before they could set it on fire.

He used an extinguisher to prevent the rest of vehicle park catching fire.

Prosecutors say investigators are being sent from Noumea to track down the two suspects.

If caught and convicted, they risk jail terms of up to 10 years.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

New Caledonia’s 11 newly elected ministers have again failed to elect a new president.

Like two weeks ago, none of the three candidates managed to secure the support of at least six ministers.

At today’s meeting called by the French High Commissioner Laurent Prévost, the anti-independence Future with Confidence coalition’s Thierry Santa won four votes while the two pro-independence contenders, Louis Mapou (UNI candidate) and Samuel Hnepeune I(UC-FLNKS), secured three votes each.

• READ MORE: Change in New Caledonia government 40 years on brings hope to Kanaks
• Toujours pas de président du gouvernement
• Other Kanaky New Caledonia reports

The Caledonia Together minister again abstained.

Without a president, the government is not properly constituted and the previous government, which fell a month ago, will remain in a caretaker capacity.

A date for another election attempt is yet to be set.

A budget needs to be passed before the end of the month for the territory to avoid being placed under French stewardship.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Vanuatu’s opposition leader is calling for engagement with New Caledonia’s anti-independence side to convince them of a viable Kanaky.

New Caledonia last week narrowly rejected independence from France, but a third referendum is likely in 2022.

Ralph Regenvanu, who is a staunch advocate for decolonisation in the region, says New Caledonia is Vanuatu’s closest neighbour and home to the largest group of ni-Vanuatu abroad.

He says New Caledonia’s independence is the goal of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, for which it was set up.

“We also need to convince the anti-independence lobby that New Caledonia can be a viable state in the Pacific like the other states in the Pacific,” he said.

“I know that the anti-independence lobby in New Caledonia often likes to point over to Vanuatu and say, ‘look, you could become like that if you become independent’.

“For us, it is quite amusing because we think we have got a very good development model happening here,” Regenvanu said.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

The president of New Caledonia’s parliamentary Congress says the Pacific territory could become an independent state associated with France.

The suggestion was made by Roch Wamytan in an interview with the Catholic newspaper La Croix after the October 4 independence referendum in which 53 percent voted for the status quo, a reduced majority from the previous vote in 2018.

New Caledonia’s pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) movement has confirmed that it will request a third and final referendum on independence from France.

Last Sunday, 53 percent voted against independence in the second of three possible referendums – three percent less than in 2018.

The FLNKS spokesman, Victor Tutugoro, said his side now had the “wind in its sails”, describing last Sunday’s result as a victory which indicated the direction that the country must take.

• READ MORE: Victory in defeat for Kanak independence movement in latest referendum
• Melanesian Spearhead Group still backs Kanak decolonisation agenda

Under the terms of the Noumea Accord, a third of the members of New Caledonia’s 54-seat Congress is needed to request the next referendum six months after the last plebiscite.

Tutugoro said the FLNKS believed it had convinced people beyond its traditional electorate, with non-Kanak voices now supporting its cause.

However, New Caledonia’s anti-independence parties as well as French politicians are keen to avoid a third referendum and instead seek a dialogue for a new arrangement.

But the FLNKS has warned it will only engage in discussions on the basis of its political project of achieving full sovereignty and independence.

French citizens seek electoral rolls boost
An organisation of French citizens without full voting rights in New Caledonia has called for a rally to coincide with a visit to Noumea by French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu.

The group, One Heart One Vote, wants an estimated 41,000 residents to be registered on all electoral rolls.

They can only vote in municipal elections and French elections, but not in provincial elections and independence referendums which are restricted to indigenous Kanaks and those who arrived and registered in New Caledonia before 1998.

One Heart One Vote called for a rally outside the French High Commission on Saturday next week and requested to be received by Lecornu.

The restrictions were enshrined in a French organic law in 1999 to shore up the representation of the indigenous Kanak population.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

A third referendum on independence from France looms in New Caledonia unless talks over the next six months satisfy the aspirations of the Kanak people for more self-rule.

On Saturday, the French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu is due in New Caledonia to gauge the positions of local politicians while Paris calibrates its options to retain its foothold in Melanesia.

On arrival, Lecornu will have to spend two weeks in quarantine in covid-19-free New Caledonia while the territory recovers from a bruising referendum campaign and digests the result.

• READ MORE: Victory in defeat for Kanak independence movement in latest referendum
• Melanesian Spearhead Group still backs Kanak decolonisation agenda

Just over 53 percent voted for the status quo but it meant a further decline for the French loyalist camp which as recently as two years ago was told by pollsters that it had 70 percent support.

Going to a third referendum in 2022 – as is possible under the Noumea Accord – means more political tension and according to the president of the Southern province Sonia Backes, it even bears the risk of a civil war.

All the while, those on the losing side of the referendum insist on their right as the colonised people to regain control of their homeland.

Independence ‘cannot be denied’
Bilo Railati of the small Labour Party said independence could not be denied.

“I would like to say here, and I hope it is understood, that the Kanak people will never mourn its independence,” he told television viewers.

The decolonisation process launched at the United Nations in 1986 has seen two major accords since 1988, first the Matignon Accords and then the 1998 Noumea Accord.

They framed a peaceful coexistence for three decades but failed to unite the communities for the much vaunted common destiny.

Among the ongoing upheaval in the all important nickel sector, growing worry about public finances as well as inequality and crime the independence question is just one additional challenge.

Tension was heightened by the divisive referendum question which Paris had chosen two years ago.

This was acknowledged by Lecornu when he was asked on French radio.

“This binary question of a yes or no to independence is not the answer to all the questions raised in society today,” he said.

Anti-independence camp split
The anti-independence camp, which is split over internal rivalries, campaigned with two approaches.

A grouping of six parties, calling themselves the “Loyalists”, pushed a winner-takes-it-all line, avoiding dialogue while warning of economic pitfalls of independence.

The New Caledonia Together party, however, viewed the latest referendum as an unnecessary exercise because it only hardened positions when a mutually acceptable way forward needed to be found.

On television, a senior party member and former provincial president Philippe Michel restated his vision.

“We at Caledonia Together believe that it is possible to conjoin sovereignty and being in a republic instead of opposing sovereignty and the republic. We believe that it is possible to have a statute in New Caledonia under which there is – as already in some spheres – a shared sovereignty,” he said.

Already a month ago the Loyalists said that instead of a third referendum a new deal should be put to voters in 2022 which could make New Caledonia a constitutionally guaranteed part of the French republic.

Their plan would end the concept of a New Caledonian citizenship conferred to indigenous Kanaks and long-term residents who are currently the only people allowed to vote in the referendums.

Voting rights for French residents
This would also grant about 40,000 mainly French residents, or about a fifth of the population, voting rights which they do not have under the terms of the Noumea Accord.

Last week, pro-independence parties proposed a law to ban foreigners from buying existing real estate – a move, which would also apply to the French residents ineligible to be New Caledonian citizens.

A group representing them, One Heart One Vote, plans to challenge this in the European Human Rights Court, describing it as discriminatory.

In his address on Sunday night, President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that he would comply with the constitutionally guaranteed Noumea Accord and, if so wanted, organise a third referendum.

However, Macron also said ultimately the transitional provisions enshrined in the constitution must either give way to lasting provisions or be withdrawn.

According to Professor Mathias Chauchat of the University of New Caledonia, the implication is that France no longer intends to respect constitutional irreversibility, which implicitly means a new unilateral status and the enlargement of the electorate to include all the French.

Macron also called on French national political forces to draw up their vision of New Caledonia’s future.

New mission planned
Now according to Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes, a former minister has proposed that a mission be planned headed by a former prime minister, either Manuel Valls or Edouard Philippe.

Lecornu said there would be either another referendum or a vote on a new arrangement.

“In both cases there will be a moment when the Noumea Accord ends and something new needs to be imagined,” he said.

While French politicians expressed confidence that New Caledonia would remain tied to France, they largely oppose a third referendum.

Consolidating the French presence is last month’s appointment of the first ever ambassador in charge of the Indo-Pacific.

The Paris-based diplomat will begin his job next week and is expected to liaise along the Indo-Pacific axis outlined by Macron which extends via India and Australia to New Caledonia and French Polynesia.

Pro-independence camp unperturbed
The pro-independence camp appeared to be unperturbed by the two referendum losses.

A signatory to the Noumea Accord back in 1998 and now president of New Caledonia’s Congress, Roch Wamytan, was adamant that the decolonisation process has to result in independence.

To get there, he wanted to adhere to what was decided from the very start of he process.

“We are not hesitating to say that we are going to a third referendum because we have so decided,” he said

Should decolonisation fail, the pro-independence side has already said it will seek direct bilateral talks with Paris.

The next referendum can at the earliest be called in April, giving French and pro-French New Caledonian leaders six months to lay out a path to change Wamytan’s mind.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

While pro-independence Kanak supporters rued another defeat in the second referendum on independence for New Caledonia at the weekend, it was even narrower than the loss two years ago. Now there is a real prospect of a win in 2022.

“The path to independence and sovereignty is inevitable,” pledges the Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) – the umbrella group of the pro-independence parties – and the struggle will go on.

Roch Wamytan, president of New Caledonia’s parliamentary Congress and a key leader of the FLNKS’ Union Calédonienne, vows the independence lobbying will press for the third referendum in two years’ time – and even later if needed.

• READ MORE: Independence for Kanaky: A media and political stalemate or a ‘three strikes’ Frexit challenge?
• New Caledonia rejects independence again, but Kanak vote gains ground
• Stefan Armbruster of SBS reports on the referendum result
• Non for now … New Caledonia rejects independence from France  – in pictures

If there is a third defeat, “we’ll talk, and we’ll figure something out”.

By boosting the overall “oui” vote by more than 3 percent – even in some pro-France strongholds in Noumea and the Southern province, the Kanak camp is confident over its long-term prospects as the demographics of a growing youth share of the population becomes more favourable.

However, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, the territory’s “loyalist”-owned sole daily newspaper, greeted the referendum results more critically, declaring that they showed “Caledonian society was more divided than ever, both on a geographical and community level”.

The yes vote climbed this time to 46.74 percent in provisional results, compared to 43.6 percent in the November 2018 referendum – a result that shattered most predictions of a crushing “non” vote.

Record turnout
With all ballots tallied from the territory’s 304 polling stations, the “no” vote on Sunday won with 53.26 percent. The turnout was a record 85 percent for a vote in New Caledonia – 4 percent more than the referendum in 2018.

POINT DE VUE. « La Nouvelle-Calédonie face au défi de la décolonisation » #Pointdevue #Politique https://t.co/I3kaKsrXb2 via @ouestfrance

— KANAKY ONLINE (@kanakyOnLine) October 3, 2020

Results in the three provinces were split along traditional lines, but in each case the “yes” vote advanced.

In the mainly white bastion of the Southern province that includes the capital Noumea, the yes vote was 29.19 percent compared with 25.88 percent in 2018.

The status quo vote dropped to 70.81 percent.

In the Northern province, was 77.9 percent yes (compared to 75.83 percent) and 22.11 percent no.

In the Loyalty Islands, the vote was 84.27 percent in favour of independence (82.18 percent in 2018) and 15.73 percent against.

Macron ‘grateful’ to voters
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was grateful to New Caledonian voters for rejecting independence from France.

He welcomed the referendum result with a “deep feeling of gratitude” in a speech from the Élysée Palace.

However, he also said it was up to the various political groups in New Caledonia to draw up their vision of the future of the territory that was colonised by France in 1853.

Macron said that both yes and no supporters would need to consider the consequences of the final referendum giving a different verdict than what they had wanted.

The independence referendum on Sunday was under the Noumea Accord, part of a three-decade decolonisation effort aimed at settling tensions in the 1980s – known as “les Evenements” – between indigenous Kanaks seeking independence and closer ties with their Pacific neighbours and New Caledonians wishing to remain within France.

‘Huge victory’ for Kanaks
“It’s a huge victory among the Kanak independentistes,” said economics Professor Catherine Ris of the University of New Caledonia.

“They were expecting an increase in the vote but not so high and I think it’s a big victory for them and that makes them confident.”

However, she said New Caledonia was important to France and she expected Paris to remain committed to the territory even if it eventually opted for full independence.

Luc Tutugoro, a New Zealand resident Kanak advocate for a Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP), was among many who have welcomed the referendum result but warned pro-independence Kanaks would need to work harder towards 2022.

“We are creeping towards Kanak sovereignty,” he told Asia Pacific Report. “Work on the abstentions will be the key focus for the future – as well as a true and authentic dialogue, no matter what the result of the third and last referendum will be.

“As Kanaks we will never give up or renounce our sovereignty. There is a referendum because we have been and are still colonised by France.”

Earlier this year, Alexandre Dayant, a research fellow at Australia’s Lowy Institute, predicted demographics would play a large part in the referendum.

Demographic insights
Writing for The Interpreter, Dayant indicated that a study of local demographics and past voting patterns “offers an insight into the potential outcome of the upcoming ballot”.

The study included an analysis of the correlation between the results of the 2018 referendum per communes and the spreading of ethnic groups across the territory.

“The results [were striking] … At the municipal level, the correlation coefficient – the statistical relationship connecting two variables – between the Kanak vote and the independence vote was 96.1 percent.

“Those who called themselves ‘European’ by and large voted against independence, with a correlation coefficient of 91.7 percent. For their part, Caldoches and those classified by ISEE (New Caledonia’s Institute for Statistics and Economics studies) in the category ‘Other communities and not declared’, correlated by as much as 89 percent to vote no to independence.

“Finally, the people of Wallis and Futuna, true to their role of being a balancing force in New Caledonian’s politics, had a correlation coefficient of 57.2 percent voting no to independence.”

This pattern appears to be borne out this year too and is likely to have an impact too in 2022.

However, Dayant offers a caveat: “Despite a strong correlation in 2018, not all Kanaks are pro-independence, and not all non-Kanaks are loyalists.”

Nouvelle-Calédonie : « La décolonisation reste un processus inachevé en dépit d’avancées majeures » https://t.co/LA6aHSx7Bt via @lemondefr

— KANAKY ONLINE (@kanakyOnLine) October 3, 2020

Minister due in Noumea
French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu is due in New Caledonia later this week for a three-week stay to follow up on Sunday’s independence referendum when a majority voted to stay with France, reports RNZ Pacific.

The minister will spend two weeks in isolation in line with the territory’s policies which have kept if free of any local transmission of covid-19.

RNZ quotes Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes as reporting that he would be isolating at a yet undisclosed place and not at a government-run hotel.

Lecornu will meet key leaders from all sides in the political future debate.

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

People in New Caledonia have once more voted to stay with France, narrowly rejecting independence in a tightly-fought referendum, reports Al Jazeera.

But the pro-independence supporters increased the “Oui” – yes – vote by more than 3 percent to 46.74 percent in provisional results to boost hopes for full decolonisation in a possible third vote in two years’ time.

With all ballots tallied from the territory’s 304 polling stations, the “No” vote yesterday won with 53.26 percent.

• READ MORE: Independence for Kanaky: A media and political stalemate or a ‘three strikes’ Frexit challenge?
• ABC reports – New Caledonia says no to independence for a second time

Turnout was reported to be high in the second of three possible referendums on independence, with roughly 89 percent of the 180,000 New Caledonians eligible to vote.

In November 2018, the result was 56.4 percent for maintaining the status quo and 43.6 percent in favour of independence.

Roch Wamytan, who is both the leader of the pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) and president of the parliamentary Congress of New Caledonia,  said he would want to take up the third referendum option in the quest for the indigenous Kanak people to regain control of their country, reports RNZ Pacific.

By refusing independence yesterday, the territory of 273,000 people will keep generous subsidies from France, which provides $1.5 billion in financial support annually.

French President Emmanuel Macron, in a speech from the Elysee Palace in Paris, welcomed the result with a “deep feeling of gratitude”.

He also said all the political forces in New Caledonia needed to draw up a map for the future of the territory.

Macron said all possible scenarios should be considered, RNZ reports.

It was the second time New Caledonia had held such a referendum. Two years ago, almost 57 percent of voters had also rejected independence.

Third referendum in line
A third referendum may be possible in 2022 if a third of the local assembly votes in favour.

New Caledonia was colonised by France in the mid-19th century and won greater autonomy and the right to hold up to three referendums on its political status under the Noumea Accord, signed between French and local leaders in 1998.

The agreement followed a 1988 peace deal that ended decades of conflict between the indigenous Kanak people and the descendants of European settlers known as Caldoches.

Despite the Noumea Accord’s promise of a “common destiny” for all citizens, Kanaks, who comprise about 39 percent of the population, still experience higher levels of unemployment and poverty, as well as lower achievement in higher education.

In the 2018 referendum, the vast majority of those who voted for independence were Kanak, while those who supported continuing ties with France were either of European descent or from other non-indigenous minority groups.

For the pro-independence campaigners, full sovereignty would have meant decolonisation, emancipation, reducing inequality, and their right to decide the future of the islands, including realigning their political and cultural allegiances to the wider community of Pacific Islands states.

The loyalists, however, say they are proud of their French heritage and say their high standards of living, as well as the good public services on the archipelago, are in large part due to French subsidies.

There has been a mixed response in Wallis and Futuna to last week’s election of a pro-independence politician as Congress president of New Caledonia.

Roch Wamytan was elected after the new Pacific Awakening party, launched by the Wallisian and Futunian community, defied expectations and refused to endorse the anti-independence camp’s candidate Magali Manuohalolo, who is also an ethnic Futunian.

The public broadcaster on Wallis quoted a customary leader as saying he hoped the vote would not mark a step towards New Caledonia’s independence.

READ MORE: New ‘anti’ force shakes up New Caledonian political landscape

Others welcomed the electoral alliance as a novel sign of cooperation among Pacific Islanders.

The move is also being seen as a sign of emancipation of the community from Wallis and Futuna in New Caledonia’s society.

There has been a suggestion that the leader of Pacific Awakening, Milakulo Tukumuli, be made a member of the territorial government.

A new government is expected to be formed in the next two weeks.

• This article is published under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.
• More New Caledonian stories

The provincial elections last Sunday have shaken the political landscape in New Caledonia with an upheaval in the Southern province that will influence developments leading up to the next two referendums on independence.

The poll results – especially in the most populated Southern province – have stunned the Pacific territory for three reasons:

READ MORE: Kanaky independence campaign rolls on … encouraged by ballot result

• After three terms and 15 years in power, Caledonia Ensemble and its emblematic leader Phillipe Gomès have lost heavily in the South – and also their majority in the legislative Congress.

• The anti-independence leader Sonia Backès and her new l’Avenir en Confiance (Future with Confidence) coalition have won by a landslide in the South and yesterday she was elected president of her province.

• A Polynesian political party, L‘Éveil Océanien (Oceania Awakening), emerged for the first time, supported by the Wallis and Futuna community, and by winning three seats in the Congress it now holds the balance of power.

The turnout was far lower than the historic referendum on independence last November, barely reaching 60 percent.

The right-wing 43-year-old Backès ran a campaign by criticising the previously entrenched Caledonia Ensemble (Caledonia Together) and promoting strong anti-independence and security views.

Independence opposed
When Caledonia Ensemble proposed negotiations and talks with the pro-independence groups, Backès and her coalition opposed any notion of independence.

Her coalition won more than 28,000 votes out of 72,000 in the Southern province. That won it 16 seats out of the 32 seats dedicated to the South province in the 54-seat Congress.

Caledonie Ensemble gained 7 seats, the pro-independence FNKS 7 seats and Eveil Oceanien 3 seats.

Eveil Oceanien were regarded as outsiders, completely unknown in political life and now the party is going to play a balancing act between pro and anti-independence blocs – and also within the new anti-independence bloc.

Yesterday’s election of Sonia Backès as the new president of the Southefn province after two voting rounds highlighted that role.

In the Northern province, the charismatic President Paul Neoutyine keeps the majority and his presidency.

However, as in 2014, the race between his Union National (UNI) list for independence and another major pro-independence party, Union Caledonienne-FLNKS, was tight.

Uni won in North
In the end, out of the 15 seats dedicated to the Northern province in the Congress, Uni won 7 seats, UC-FLNKS 6 seats and 2 went to the non-independence Agissons Pour Le Nord.

In the Loyalty Islands province, once again the participation rate was low. Many people did not turn out to cast their ballots resulting to a 66 percent participation rate.

Also many Islands province voters have moved to the Southern province for work.
The voters retained UC-FLNKS in power.

Yesterday, its representative Jacques Lalie was elected as the provincial president.

Out of the 7 Congress seats allocated to this province. UC-FLNKS won 3 seats, the challengers Palika made significant progress to gain 2 seats, the Labour party won 1 seat and so did Omeyra Nisseline for her Liberation Kanak Socialiste party.

Despite just her first appearance in politics, Nisseline won 1536 votes.

For the voters the choice was difficult as there were 8 lists running for the Island province with 21,000 registered voters – 7 of them being pro-independence.

Slim majority
The majority in the Congress is really slim with 28 anti-independence seats and 26 for independence.

The 3 Oceanian seats are going to play a critical role as New Caledonia shapes up for the next two political referendums in independence next year and in 2022 under the Noumea Accord.

Duke Menango is a journalist for the independent northern-based Caledonia Television. He filed this special report for the Pacific Media Centre.

• New Caledonia’s provincial elections sharpen political divide
• Other New Caledonian stories

New Caledonia’s anti-independence parties have retained their slim majority in the 54-member Congress made up of members from the French Pacific territory’s three provincial assemblies.

After Sunday’s provincial elections the anti-independence parties have 28 Congress seats, reflecting their continued dominance in the more populous Southern province.

However, the other two provinces, Kanak-governed North and the Loyalty Islands, saw a clean sweep by the pro-independence camp, cementing the sharp political divisions within New Caledonia.

LISTEN: Walter Zweifel reports from Noumea for RNZ Dateline Pacific

Transcript
The two big winners emerging from the provincial elections are two newcomers, the Future in Confidence coalition and the Pacific Awakening Party.

The Future in Confidence coalition was formed out of three rival anti-independence parties after last November’s independence referendum.

Pacific Awakening, emanating from the anti-independence Wallisian and Futunian community, won three seats to give the pro-French camp 28 seats versus the 26 secured by the pro-independence parties in the Congress.

Sonia Backes, who leads the anti-independence coalition, was on television commenting on the election outcome:

“The Caledonians have suffered a lot in the last few years. They are expecting from us confidence at an economic level and in terms of security which we have to act on.”

Social policy
The Pacific Awakening party, which was formed just two months ago, is led by Milakulo Tukumuli who on election night restated his goals.

“I think, as I have said during my programme, it’s mainly about social policy, for New Caledonians the gap between the richest and poorest needs to be closed; that’s a priority.”

In the Loyalty Islands province, all 14 seats went to pro-independence parties.

In the 22-seat Northern province Assembly, the pro-independence Uni/Palika list of the incumbent president Paul Neaoutyine came first, narrowly ahead of the pro-independence UC-FLNKS list led by Daniel Goa.

The big loser is the anti-independence Caledonia Together Party, which was the biggest party in both the southern province and the Congress.

Its representation in Congress was more than halved.

The president of the Southern province, Philippe Michel, conceded that there has been a realignment after the November referendum.

‘Historic crisis’
“There has for one been an historic crisis in the nickel sector which had not been seen any time before during the Noumea Accord. It had affected the economy and caused difficulties in the country.”

For the Future in Confidence, remaining French has been a key campaign platform election, which resonated with voters in the Southern province.

The balance between pro and anti-independence parties is largely unchanged yet the split into these two camps is further entrenched.

It is a given that the next referendum on independence from France will be called by the new Congress which will sit for the first time next week.

Congress is also due to elect an 11-member collegial government for a five-year term.

Under the collegial system enshrined in the Noumea Accord, the government seats will be shared among the parties in proportion to their strength in Congress.

• Among the elected provincial councillors in the Northern province was a former journalist and Radio Djiido news editor, Magalie Tingal Lémé.
• This article is published under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.
• Other New Caledonian news

Pacific Media Centre’s Southern Cross radio programme special on Pacific elections this week.

Preliminary results from New Caledonia’s provincial elections show that the anti-independence parties will retain their slim majority in the 54-member Congress.

Local television projections show that the new anti-independence majority will get 28 seats, including three of a new party, Pacific Awakening, which emanates from the Wallisian community.

This is two more than the 26 seats of the pro-independence bloc of five parties.

In the new Congress, which will be made up of members of the three provincial assemblies, the Future with Confidence coalition led by Sonia Backes will be the biggest party with a projected 18 seats.

Caledonia Together, which used to be the biggest party, is set to slump from 15 seats to seven.

According to unofficial results in the southern province, Backes’ coalition, which was formed for this election, won an absolute majority in the provincial assembly.

In the Loyalty Islands province, all seats went to pro-independence parties.

In the northern province, the pro-independence Uni/Palika list of the incumbent president Paul Neaoutyine came first, narrowly ahead of another pro-independence list.

Turnout was about 66 percent.

The new Congress will elect an 11-member collegial government for a five-year term.

Under the collegial system enshrined in the Noumea Accord, the government seats will be shared among the parties in proportion to their strength in Congress.

Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, New Caledonia’s only daily newspaper, described the result as “The great upheaval” in its front page report, describing the massive southern provincial reshuffle while the north and the Loyalty islands provinces had little change.

• This article is published under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.
• Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes coverage

  

Pacific Media Centre’s Southern Cross radio programme on the New Caledonian provincial elections.