France should decide, this Monday, whether or not to maintain the state of emergency in New Caledonia following a week of unprecedented violence within the French territory of the South Pacific, hit by riots and clashes of a unprecedented scale for 40 years, having already caused six deaths in six days. A new Defense and National Security Council will take place this Monday at 6:30 p.m. under the leadership of Emmanuel Macron, “on monitoring the situation in New Caledonia”, the Elysée announced on Sunday evening. The Head of State had already chaired a Defense Council on Wednesday dedicated to the overseas territory, to decide to establish a state of emergency there, then a second Thursday at the end of which his Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the sending police and gendarmerie reinforcements.
Extend the state of emergency?
On Friday, the question of extending the state of emergency was raised between the head of government and parliamentary leaders from all sides. The Assembly and the Senate must agree to extend this measure beyond twelve days, i.e. the evening of May 27. A bill was indeed “in preparation” at the end of the week, but according to MP Sacha Houlié (Renaissance) the government still hoped to rule out this option at the end of the Pentecost weekend, i.e. this Monday, if the situation ” had improved” in the Caledonian archipelago.
This Monday is therefore the day for all decisions. Other arbitrations are expected on the maintenance or postponement of the Congress which must ratify by the end of June the contested reform of the Caledonian electoral body, at the origin of the outbreak of violence, as well as on the creation of a “mission of dialogue” in order to reach a “comprehensive agreement” between separatists and loyalists.
“Success” against roadblocks, airport remains closed
The High Commissioner of the Republic in New Caledonia, Louis Le Franc, welcomed this Monday the “success” of the start of a vast gendarmerie operation against the roadblocks between Nouméa and its international airport. During the latter, 76 roadblocks were neutralized according to the state representative, who also reported “nearly 240 rioters” arrested since the start of the violence. According to the state representative, the night from Sunday to Monday “was marked by a notable fire and looting actions.” He did not give further details.
Nouméa international airport will nevertheless remain closed to commercial flights until Thursday 9 a.m. (midnight in Paris), Charles Roger, director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of New Caledonia, told AFP on Monday. , platform manager. Despite requests from Australia and New Zealand in particular to be able to evacuate their nationals, the airport has been closed to commercial flights since last Tuesday.
The CCI wants to preserve “what’s left” of the economy
After a week of riots, the entire economy is disintegrating while the clashes create sometimes irreparable damage to businesses. “The economic and social consequences of these riots are already catastrophic, we absolutely must preserve what little remains of our economy,” implored the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of New Caledonia on Monday in a communicated.
Already last Thursday, the organization estimated the damage to the archipelago at 200 million euros. She did not provide a new estimate four days later, but the damage has only gotten worse. According to her, more than 150 businesses have already been looted or burned, leaving more than 1,000 employees without work. The CCI said it feared, “in the near future, an increase in our even greater dependence on imports”.