RFI
New Caledonia: separatists preparing to lead the French Pacific archipelago
Change of head in New Caledonia. The separatists are preparing to lead the executive of the French Pacific archipelago (located east of Australia) which is continuing its process of decolonization. The new government was elected this Wednesday February 17 in Noumea by members of the Caledonian Congress. In New Caledonia, the separatists are on the way to a successful political coup, they are the ones who brought down the last government in early February 2021 by resigning en bloc. The separatist parties – UC FLNKS and UNI – won six of the eleven seats in the new government. This is a first since 1982 in New Caledonia, unprecedented since the Noumea Accords of 1998 which set the stages for the decolonization of this French territory. The separatists must now agree on a candidate to find a consensual president.A context of tensionsFirst around the takeover of the nickel plant in Valé. The separatists are against the latest takeover offer. They fear losing control over nickel, the wealth of the archipelago. And it is for this reason that they brought down the last government, to block the process and put pressure on the French state. The other sensitive area is the prospect of a third and last referendum of independence before 2022. The coming to power of the separatists could fuel even more political tensions with the loyalists, the partisans of New Caledonia remaining under the French flag. “Historical” For Daniel Goa, the leader of the independence party Union Calédonienne , “It’s a historic event, we have become the majority in the country. Despite this, we are not in the majority on the referendum, but it is up to us to work so that people are convinced that there is another model to propose rather than continuing to divide society as is the case. case today. On the anti-independence side, we remain skeptical about the credibility of the new government. Philippe Michel, from the loyalist group Calédonie ensemble, interviewed by the local channel La 1ère: “We, what matters to us is that indeed this government be operational as quickly as possible, because we need a government to vote on a budget and avoid being placed under supervision; because we need an operational government to solve the problem of the factory in the South which is poisoning the Caledonians and many other subjects. Relaunching the dialogue In Paris, the government hopes that the formation of this new government will make it possible to relaunch the dialogue, which has now stalled with the separatists. “When you head the executive, you cannot say no to discussions,” confided a close friend of the overseas minister, Sébastien Lecornu. ► To read also: New Caledonia: the separatists bring down the government
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