The examination in the Assembly of a constitutional revision aimed at expanding the electoral body specific to the provincial election of New Caledonia has reignited tensions between loyalists and separatists in the archipelago, hit by a wave of violence. The Express takes stock of the situation.
What is the situation on site?
According to the High Commissioner of the Republic in New Caledonia, Louis Le Franc, residents of Nouméa were taken out of their homes before their “homes were burned” during the violence. “In the city of Nouméa, the action is carried out mainly in the northern districts with the destruction of businesses, pharmacies and homes,” declared the state representative during a press conference. He also reported “tense shooting with large caliber weapons, hunting rifles, on the gendarmes”, in the town of Mont-Dore. “There were no deaths,” he said, calling for calm after a night of riots.
Numerous clashes took place yesterday between police and rioters. Traffic is made difficult by burned carcasses or smoking piles of leftover tires and pallets. During the night from Monday to Tuesday, firefighters recorded nearly 1,500 calls and identified around 200 homes. Hundreds of cars were set on fire, as were more than thirty companies, shops and factories, according to a group of employers’ representatives.
If the situation seemed a little calmer on Tuesday morning, the streets are still the scene of clashes and numerous scenes of chaos, particularly in the Noumean suburbs where a supermarket, forced to ram during the night, continues to be looted by the population. Many businesses also bear signs of attempted break-ins. Few of the traders have maintained an activity.
A curfew was decreed from Tuesday 6:00 p.m. (07:00 GMT) to Wednesday 6:00 a.m. (7:00 p.m. GMT Tuesday), announced the state representative in this territory. In addition, any gathering is prohibited in greater Nouméa, as is the carrying of weapons and the sale of alcohol throughout New Caledonia, indicates the high commission which invites the 270,000 inhabitants of the territory to stay home. The New Caledonian government has announced the closure of high schools and colleges until further notice. The international airport is closed and the Aircalin company has suspended its flights for the day on Tuesday.
What does the law currently say?
Decisive in New Caledonia where the three provinces hold a large part of the powers, the provincial election responds to an atypical organization, resulting from the Nouméa agreement signed in 1998 then a constitutional reform of 2007. In accordance with the article 77 of the Constitution, the electorate for this ballot is essentially limited to voters registered on the lists for the 1998 consultation and their descendants, de facto excluding residents who arrived after 1998 and many natives.
Over the years, these restrictive conditions have increased the proportion of voters deprived of the right to vote in the provincial election while they are authorized to vote in national elections (presidential, municipal, etc.). In 2023, this concerned nearly one voter in five, compared to only 7.5% in 1999, a situation “contrary to the democratic principles and the values of the Republic”, according to the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.
What is the government proposing?
To remedy this, the government wishes to expand the electoral body with a system that is still restricted but “sliding”, by opening it to all natives and people domiciled in Caledonian territory for at least ten years. Around 25,000 voters could then join the electoral list. The next provincial election is supposed to be held before December 15.
The executive first intends to give a chance to local negotiations between loyalists and separatists. Gérald Darmanin assured that the stakeholders would be invited “quickly” to Paris to “discuss around the Prime Minister, around the government”. But this “outstretched hand” is for the moment “refused” by the independence camp, according to him.
Why is the revision criticized?
The separatists, opposed to the reform, accuse the State of wanting to go through force to “even further minimize the indigenous Kanak people”, who represented 41.2% of the population of the archipelago in the 2019 census, according to INSEE . In Parliament, the principle of expanding the electorate seems to have a consensus, but the method exasperates the opposition.
Again on Monday, France Insoumise urged the government to “stop stirring up tensions which are fracturing the population”, fearing a “real bomb against civil peace”. “By choosing to go through force, the government refuses to rediscover the spirit of impartiality which should guide its choices”, had previously regretted the socialist senator Corinne Narassiguin, pleading for a constitutional revision to take place only after the signature of a global local agreement on the institutional future of New Caledonia.
Gérald Darmanin defends an opposite logic: “It is indeed the draft constitutional law and its progress which allows the agreement,” he said.
What did the Senate say?
The text was clearly reshaped by the senatorial majority before its adoption on April 2 by the Upper House. The latter approved the principle of electoral enlargement to natives and residents living in New Caledonia for ten years, but modified the terms of application of the reform. The Senate notably removed the government “ultimatum” for an agreement by July 1 at the latest, opening the possibility for local parties to reach it up to ten days before the next provincial elections, which would postpone the vote.
Other modifications particularly annoying for the government: the obligation to go back to Parliament to enact the clauses for registration on the electoral lists, which are not detailed in the law currently being examined, while the executive hoped to do so by decree.
What consequences in Parliament?
The adoption of a constitutional reform is far from easy for the government, especially in a situation of relative majority in the National Assembly. If she decides in favor of the text, the slightest semantic modification in the Lower House compared to the terms approved by the Senate will result in a new parliamentary shuttle. In the event of a “compliant” vote, the constitutional revision will finally be submitted to all parliamentarians meeting in Congress in Versailles at the beginning of the summer. A three-fifths majority of the votes cast will then be necessary.
Emmanuel Macron promised on Sunday not to convene the Congress “in the wake of” the Assembly’s vote, according to his entourage, to “prioritize dialogue”.