On Tuesday, French lawmakers passed a bill which would allow all citizens who have resided on the island for more than 10 years to vote in local elections, a move which New Caledonia’s pro-independence movements argue would weaken the representation of the territory’s indigenous population, the Kanaks. The change would require a constitutional amendment and therefore needs to be confirmed by parliamentarians from the Senate and National Assembly in a joint voting session.
Since 2007, only those who were allowed to vote in 1998 — when the French government signed an agreement recognizing the “legitimacy of the Kanak as the indigenous people of New Caledonia” and granting the territory increased autonomy — or their descendants can elect the local executive.
Calls for appeasement
Tensions have been running high in the New Caledonian capital Nouméa, where airports were shut down and a curfew was put in place last night in an unsuccessful bid to prevent rioting. Louis Le Franc, France’s representative in the territory, called the limited death toll a “miracle.”
Local media reported on incidents of looting, arson and use of firearms.
In a radio interview, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said “around 100” security forces were injured and that the curfew would be kept in place.
In a statement, the territory’s main separatist force and largest party in the local congress, the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, “denounced” Tuesday night’s violent events and called for “calm and appeasement.” It once more requested that the proposed electoral reform be scrapped and added that “the unstable social climate … clearly highlights the desire of a section of the population to be heard as regards their future and that of their country (sic).”
Sonia Backès, a local official opposed to the territory’s independence and a former minister in Macron’s government, asked France to declare a “state of emergency” and accused some separatists of promoting “anti-white racism.”
Three referendums on New Caledonia’s independence were held between 2018 and 2021. A narrow majority of voters opted to stay in France during the first two votes, but the third one was marred by low turnout as separatists called on their supporters to boycott the vote due to the state’s refusal to postpone it amid the Covid-19 pandemic.