French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday pushed on a visit to riot-hit New Caledonia for the removal of protesters’ barricades and said police sent in to help battle deadly unrest in the French Pacific archipelago “will stay as long as necessary,” even as security services back in France focus in coming weeks on safeguarding the Paris Olympics.
By canceling his previously announced schedule to fly across the globe from Paris to New Caledonia, Macron brought the weight of his office to bear on the crisis, which has left six dead and a trail of destruction on the archipelago where indigenous Kanak people have long sought independence from France.
Pro-independence Kanak leaders, who a week earlier declined Macron’s offer of talks by video, joined a meeting with the French leader hosted in the capital, Noumea, with rival pro-Paris leaders who want New Caledonia, which became French in 1853 under Napoleon III, to remain part of France.
Photo: AFP
Macron urged local leaders to use their clout to help restore order. He said a state of emergency imposed by Paris for at least 12 days on Wednesday last week to boost police powers could only be lifted if local leaders call for a clearing away of barricades that demonstrators and people trying to protect their neighborhoods have erected in Noumea and beyond.
The unrest continued to simmer as Macron jetted in, despite a 6pm to 6am curfew and more than 1,000 reinforcements for the archipelago’s police and gendarmes, now 3,000 strong.
“I will be very clear here. These forces will remain as long as necessary. Even during the Olympic Games and Paralympics,” Macron said.
At La Tontouta International Airport in Noumea, which remains closed to commercial flights, Macron on arrival said that he wanted “to be alongside the people and see a return to peace, calm and security as soon as possible.”
Later, at Noumea’s central police station, Macron thanked officers for facing what he described as “an absolutely unprecedented insurrection movement.”
“No one saw it coming with this level of organization and violence,” he said. “You did your duty, and I thank you.”
Macron flew to the archipelago under pressure from politicians in France and pro-independence supporters to delay or scrap the overhaul of the voting system for New Caledonia which triggered the unrest. It would enlarge voter numbers in provincial elections for New Caledonia’s legislature and government, adding about 25,000 voters, including people who have been residents of the archipelago for at least 10 years and others born there.
Opponents fear the measure would benefit pro-France politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalize the Kanaks, who once suffered from strict segregation policies and widespread discrimination.
Supporters say the proposed overhaul is democratically important for people with roots in New Caledonia who cannot currently vote for local representatives.
Macron in the past has facilitated dialogue between the divided pro and anti-independence camps. France’s efforts included three referendums from 2018 to 2021 which asked voters if they wanted independence. They voted no each time, but the last referendum in 2021 was boycotted by pro-independence forces.
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