NICE, France (AP) — The leader of a pro-independence party in New Caledonia on Saturday called on supporters to “remain mobilized” in the French Pacific archipelago and “maintain the resistance” against the Paris government’s attempts at electoral reforms to impose on the indigenous Kanak people fear that they will be further marginalized.
Christian Tein, the leader of the pro-independence party known as The Field Acton Coordination Unit, addressed supporters and protesters in a video message. It was posted on social media two days after he and other pro-independence leaders met with French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to the area following unrest that left seven dead and a trail of destruction.
Macron has repeatedly urged the removal of demonstrators’ barricades from leaders on both sides of New Caledonia’s bitter divide: the indigenous Kanaks, who want independence, and the pro-Paris leaders, who do not.
The French president told them that the state of emergency that Paris declared on May 15 for at least 12 days to increase police powers could only be lifted if local leaders called for the removal of barricades blocking demonstrators and people neighborhoods were trying to protect. the capital Nouméa and beyond.
In the video message, Tein called on protesters to “loosen the grip somewhat” on their barricades in Nouméa, its suburbs and along the archipelago’s main roads to transport fuel, food and medicine and to improve access to healthcare for the archipelago’s residents. ease. islands in the north and south.
But Tein insisted the barricades will remain in place until French authorities lift house arrest orders for some of his party members and Macron’s government scraps electoral reform that Kanaks fears will weaken their influence by pushing some more recent arrivals into the country. archipelago to vote in local politics. elections.
“We remain mobilized (and) maintain all (forms) of resistance,” Tein said, urging his supporters to remain steadfast and refrain from violence. “There has been too much suffering, too much is at stake and we must see this through. (and) achieve our goals in a coordinated, structured and organized manner.” He added: “Our main goal is for our country to achieve full sovereignty.”
Barricades made up of charred vehicles and other debris have turned parts of Nouméa into exclusion zones and made getting around dangerous, including for the sick needing medical treatment and for families worried about food and water after shops were looted and burned.
Over the past seven months, Tein’s Field Acton Coordination Unit has organized massive, peaceful marches in New Caledonia against the Paris-backed voting reform. The unrest began early last week after a demonstration against legislation under discussion in the French parliament turned violent.
Both French parliament buildings in Paris have already approved the revision. The next step was a special congress of both houses meeting at Versailles to implement this by amending the French Constitution. That was expected at the end of June.
Macron said after meeting with leaders in New Caledonia that he will not implement the controversial voting reform that has caused the worst unrest in the region in decades.
Macron called on local leaders to come up with an alternative deal for the future of the archipelago and laid out a road map that he said could lead to a new referendum for the area.
Three previous referendums were organized by French authorities between 2018 and 2021 as part of the 1988 peace agreement. They produced ‘no’ votes against independence, although independence supporters boycotted the final vote in December 2021.
Macron said another could strike a new political deal for the archipelago, which he hopes local leaders will agree on in the coming weeks and months after demonstrators’ barricades are dismantled, allowing the state of emergency to be lifted and peace can return.
New Caledonia became French in 1853 under Emperor Napoleon III, Napoleon’s nephew and heir. It became an overseas territory after World War II, with French citizenship granted to all Kanaks in 1957.
