In New Caledonia, the withdrawal from the Noumea Agreement continues

Rarely has a minister made so many trips between Noumea and Paris. This is the third visit by Gerald Darmanin in six months to New Caledonia, where the decolonization process is stalled after the third and final self-determination referendum under the Noumea Agreement signed in 1998.

A vote was held in December 2021, but without the separatists who called for it to be postponed. If since then the Loyalists have boasted of victory “Three times no to independence”The Socialist Kanak National Liberation Front (FLNKS) is still protesting the results and a trial is underway at the International Court of Justice.

As a result, a year and a half later, Caledonians know a little more about their future, thirty-five years after the decolonization process that began with the signing of the Matignon-Oudinot Accords in 1988, ending the civil war that then raged in the territory. Because the Noumea agreement does not provide for it “after”Except that three nos for independence, “The partners meet to study the situation thus created.”

different agendas

These meetings between the state, separatists and non-separatists have not taken place till date. After the 2022 gap year, Gérald Darmanin multiplied the successes of the separatists in Noumea by accepting the principle of bilateral meetings in December and concretizing this dialogue in April in Paris, where Caledonian delegations came to present their views to the Prime Minister. , Elizabeth Bourne. But the meeting of the three seems to be out of the question for the moment.

They will be independent and non-independent “physically in the same room” This Thursday, it is argued in the minister’s entourage, about the restoration of two audits, one on the decolonization process, the other on the results of the Noumea agreement. We will be there to hear the minister’s restitution, nothing more. Roch Wamitani (FLNKS), President of the New Caledonian Congress and member of the independence delegation, responds.

The separatists, on the one hand, the state and the non-separatists, on the other hand, have very different agendas in mind. During his last stay, Gerald Darmanin really assured that “District elections will be held on time”That is, in May 2024 and with the new electorate, in line with the wishes of the opponents of independence, the Noumea Agreement established a special limited electorate for provincial elections and referendums. “We cannot be with the electorate that was blocked in 1998. It is our fervent desire that there be an agreement, but if there is no agreement, the government will take responsibility.” The Minister of Internal Affairs announced this in March.