In a press release published on Sunday, “ the State is fully committed to ensuring that the European elections are held on June 9 throughout the country » New Caledonian. Almost a month after the start of the crisis which is shaking this French overseas territory, the organization of the vote nevertheless appears to be a gamble as the situation remains delicate in entire sections of the Oceanian archipelago.
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It is an immense doubt which inhabits the informed observers of the New Caledonia. “ The situation is completely bogged down “, alerts one of them, “ and the government knows it very well ». For this fine connoisseur of New Caledonia, “ install and secure 300 polling stations on Sunday June 9, with still dozens of roadblocks including 14 blocking in the east of the territory, it is incredible and surreal “.
It must be said that many of these offices were damaged during the riots and that many of the 210,000 voters are more concerned about their supplies. The question of the security of polling places also arises, judges this expert, while several gendarmes in the eastern zone have difficulty leaving their premises.
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Emmanuel Macron between several files
The Minister Delegate in charge of Overseas Territories, Marie Guévenoux, was directly informed of this harmful situation during a meeting this Friday, May 31. “ But she recognized that the matter was now being handled directly at the Élysée », Continues a source interviewed by RFI who attended the discussions. It is therefore Emmanuel Macron who holds the cards.
However, the president is starting an extremely busy week with the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy and the state visit of his American counterpart Joe Biden. Furthermore, ” the results of the visit he made to the Caillou are currently non-existent, whether politically or economically “, estimates a person close to the file, “ everything is preposterous, nothing is thought out », he continues, doubting for example the operational capacity of the State to distribute the ballot papers which arrived a few days ago by a special flight.
There is also a lot of uncertainty about what could happen in the polling stations. New Caledonia is in fact celebrating the 40th anniversary of the destruction of an electoral ballot box by the independence activist of the Caledonian Union, Éloi Machoro, at Canala town hall.
A risk of appeal?
What influence the final result of the Europeans? At France Insoumise, it is estimated that at least one MEP seat could depend on participation in New Caledonia. “ It can be played to within 10 or 15,000 voices”judges MP Bastien Lachaud, who is part of the parliamentary contact group on the New Caledonian situation.
If this scenario takes shape on Sunday evening and the vote could not be held correctly in New Caledonia, LFI promises to file an appeal. Bastien Lachaud also notes that electoral propaganda could not be distributed, which harms voter information. “ There is a real risk of an improbable score », worries our observer, “ with a very small minority of voters who would vote in favor, for example, of the Macronist list. » But, he concludes, “ the real problem is that the time and energy devoted to organizing an election in which the inhabitants have little to do appears to be out of step. »
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Partial resumption of flights to Noumea
Three weeks after the start of the crisis in New Caledonia, commercial flights will partially resume from this Wednesday, June 5. The first flights affected by the resumption of traffic are from Tahiti to Brisbane in Australia. A partial recovery, which for the moment excludes flights to Paris.
Among the difficulties cited by the Aircalin company, the curfew which will remain in force at least until June 10 and the state of the road which serves La Tontouta international airport, 50 km from Nouméa. This territorial road was one of the main hotspots of the riots and remains difficult to pass.
Immediately after the gendarmerie clearing machines have passed, stone and sheet metal debris dams are reconstituted. As a result, to transport passengers and their luggage to Nouméa, an air bridge will be set up between the international airport and the Magenta aerodrome, in the center of the city.