French Pacific News In Brief

Saturday, 28 December 2024, 2:14 pm
Article: RNZ

Patrick Decloitre, Correspondent French Pacific Desk

Congress to meet in the new year

New Caledonia's Congress has been convened on 7 January 2025 to elect a new government.

This comes as the current government and its President Louis Mapou are now in caretaker mode, following the resignation earlier this week of one of its members Jérémie Katidjo-Monnier and his whole party, Calédonie Ensemble.

Congress President, Veylma Falaeo confirmed the date as the main item for the sitting, to elect New Caledonia's 18th government.

Before that, a sitting is scheduled on 30 December for the purposes of choosing the number of portfolios (between 5 and eleven ministers) the next government should have.

The government of New Caledonia is made up of the parties represented at the Congress, under a proportional principle of "collegiality" - implying that all of its members and the parties they represent are supposed to work together.

In his resignation letter, Katidjo-Monnier mentioned growing tensions between Mapou's government and the Congress MPs, especially as a result of the destructive and deadly insurrectional riots that started on 13 May.

These included a controversial government-pushed plan to borrow up to €1 billion from France, under a "PS2R" (reconstruction, refoundation and salvage) plan to rebuild New Caledonia after the riots' damage (estimated at some €2.2 billion) and the subsequent thousands of job losses.

Government President Louis Mapou's PS2R plan has been criticised by the Congress, which has been advocating for a different approach: a five-year reconstruction plan to secure funds from France, but in the form non-refundable grants, not reimbursable loans which Congress regarded as unsustainable.

Katidjo-Monnier condemned the lack of "solidarity" between Congress and the Government.

Curfew in Noumea

Authorities in New Caledonia have reintroduced a temporary curfew for Noumea and the Greater Noumea area.

Although the curfew that was introduced mid-May after the riots was lifted for the whole of New Caledonia early December, the French High Commission on Friday announced new temporary restrictions between 31 December 2024 and 2 January 2025.

This will be imposed between 1 and 6 am in Nouméa and the neighbouring cities of Dumbéa, Mont-Dore and Païta.

Public rallies, marches and demonstrations are also banned during the same period.

The High Commission said this was in view of a "special vigilance" required following the riots, but also due to a rising number of road fatalities that have occurred since the initial curfew was lifted.

Another motive was to prevent potential "disruptions to public order" during the festive season.

Anyone found in breach of the new measure and unable to justify his or her whereabouts will face a fine of 16,000 French Pacific Francs (US $140).

Loyalty Islands Province

New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands Province elected a new President on Friday.

He is Mathias Waneux, from the pro-independence Union-Calédonienne (UC)-FLNKS caucus.

Waneux was the sole candidate for the provincial assembly's top job, and he received 13 of the 14 votes.

He replaces Jacques Lalié, who on 26 November 2024 was found guilty of corruption-related charges and was sentenced to one year jail and two years of ineligibility, with immediate effect.

During the same sitting, Assembly members also elected three deputy Speakers: a former provincial President, Néko Hnepeune (UC-FLNKS) [1st deputy Speaker], Wali Wahetra (PALIKA) [2nd deputy Speaker] and Charles Yeiwene (UC-FLNKS) [3rd deputy Speaker].

New Caledonia's provincial system has three assemblies: one for the Southern Province (where the capital Nouméa is located), one for the Northern Province (still on the main island, Grande Terre) and one for the Loyalty Islands.

New Overseas Minister

New Overseas minister Manuel Valls, who was appointed on Monday as part of the new French government of Prime Minister François Bayrou, intends to tackle New Caledonia's numerous issues in the spirit of dialogue of former Socialist Prime Minister Michel Rocard.

Rocard is credited as the main French negotiator in talks between pro-France and pro-independence leaders that led in 1988 to the "Matignon-Oudinot" agreements that put an end to half a decade of quasi-civil war.

At the time 26 years old, Valls was a young advisor in Rocard's team.

Valls said Rocard's dialogue-based approach remained his "political DNA".

36 years later, now 62, he told French national broadcasters France Inter and Outre-mer la Première that the two priorities were economic recovery (after destructive riots and damage in May 2024, estimated at some 2.2 billion Euros), as well as resuming political dialogue between local antagonistic parties concerning New Caledonia's political future.

On the economic side, short-lived former Prime Minister Michel Barnier had committed up to one billion Euros in loans for New Caledonia's recovery.

But France's Parliament has not yet endorsed its 2025 budget, "which poses a number of problems regarding commitments made by (Barnier).

On the political talks that were expected to start a lead to a comprehensive and inclusive agreement between France, the pro-independence and pro-France camps, Valls said his approach was "dialogue" with the view of "going forward."

"We don't have much time (...) We have to find a common path", he said, adding future political solutions should be "innovative" for the French Pacific archipelago.

Initial schedules for those talks to take place foresaw an agreement to arrive some time at the end of March 2025.

But no talks have started yet.

The Union Calédonienne (UC), one of the main components of the pro-independence Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), said nothing could happen until it holds its annual congress, sometime during the "second half of January 2025".

Insurance payments for Noumea

New Caledonia's capital Noumea has finally obtained some US$43.5 million in insurance indemnities following the destructive riots that took place in May 2024.

Noumea Mayor Sonia Lagarde told the city's municipal council just before Christmas the sum was confirmed by Nouméa's private insurance company Helvetia.

She pointed out this was "very good news", because the sum (five billion French Pacific Francs, CFP) is a significant part of the total estimated and claimed damage (Six billion CFP) to public buildings (including schools, libraries) and infrastructure.

Lagarde hoped riot-damaged private companies, who are still waiting for their insurers' disbursements, will eventually receive similar news.

After the May 2024 riots, which entailed massive burning and looting, most private insurance companies represented in New Caledonia have opted to remove the "riots" clause from their contracts in the French Pacific archipelago.

© Scoop Media

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