Latest news with #Bougival
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
New Caledonia's politicians to get police protection following death threats
Demonstration in support New Caledonia against the unfreezing of the electoral body, Place de la Republique, in Paris. 25 May 2024. Photo: AFP / Fiora Garenzi / Hans Lucas New Caledonian politicians who inked their commitment to a deal with France on 12 July will be offered special police protection, following threats uttered especially on social networks. The group to benefit from such measures includes almost twenty members of New Caledonia's parties, both pro-France and pro-independence, who took part in deal-breaking negotiations with the French State that ended on 12 July 2025, and a joint commitment regarding New Caledonia's political future. The endorsed document envisages a roadmap in the coming months to turn New Caledonia into a "State", but within the French realm. It is what some legal experts have sometimes referred to as "a State within the State", while others saying this was tantamount to pushing the French Constitution to its very limits. The document is a commitment by all signatories that, from now on, they will stick to their respective positions. The tense but conclusive negotiations took place behind closed doors in a hotel in the small city of Bougival, near Paris, under talks driven by French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls and a team of high-level French government representatives and advisors. It followed Valls's several unsuccessful attempts, earlier this year, to reach a consensus between parties who want New Caledonia to remain part of France and others representing the pro-independence movement. Left to right: pro-France leaders Sonia Backès, Nicolas Metzdorf, Gil Brial with FLNKS chief negotiator Emmanuel Tjibaou Photo: Nicolas Metzdorf But to reach a compromise agreement, both sides have had to make concessions. The pro-French parties, for instance, have had to endorse the notion of a State of New Caledonia or that of a double French-New Caledonian nationality. Pro-independence parties have had to accept the plan to modify the rules of eligibility to vote at local elections so as to allow more non-native French nationals to join the local electoral roll. They also had to postpone or even give up on the hard-line full sovereignty demand for now. Over the past five years and after a series of three referendums (held between 2018 and 2021) on self-determination, both camps have increasingly radicalised. This resulted in destructive and deadly riots that broke out in May 2024, resulting in 14 deaths, over €2 billion in material damage, thousands of jobless and the destruction of hundreds of businesses. Over one year later, the atmosphere in New Caledonia remains marked by a sense of tension, fear, uncertainty on both sides of the political chessboard. Since the deal was signed and made public, on 12 July, and even before flying back to New Caledonia, all parties have been targeted by a wide range of reactions from their militant bases, especially on social media. Some of the reactions have included thinly-veiled death threats in response to a perception that, on one side or another, the deal was not up to the militants' expectations and that the parties' negotiators were now regarded as "traitors". Since signing the Paris agreement, all parties have also recognised the need to "sell" and "explain" the new agreement to their respective militants. Most of the political parties represented during the talks have already announced they will hold meetings in the coming days, in what is described as "an exercise in pedagogy". "In a certain number of countries, when you sign compromises after hundreds of hours of discussions and when it's not accepted (by your militants), you lose your reputation. In our can risk your life", moderate pro-France Calédonie Ensemble leader Philippe Gomès, who was part of the negotiations, told public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie La Première on Wednesday. Pro-independence FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) chief negotiator Emmanuel Tjibaou, as early as Saturday 12 July, was the first to envision negative repercussions back in New Caledonia. "To choose this difficult and new path also means we'll be subject to criticism. We're going to get insulted, threatened, precisely because we have chosen a different path", he told a post-signing debrief meeting hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. In 1988, Tjibaou's father, pro-independence leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou, also signed a historic deal (known as the "Matignon-Oudinot accords" with pro-France's Jacques Lafleur, under the auspices of then Prime Minister Michel Rocard. The deal largely contributed to restoring peace in New Caledonia, after a state of quasi-civil war during the second half of the 1980s. The following year, he and his closest associate, Yeiwéné Yeiwéné, were both shot dead by a man who was identified as Djubelly Wéa, a hard-line member of the pro-independence movement, who believed the signing of the 1988 deal was a "betrayal" of the indigenous Kanak people's struggle for sovereignty and independence. "Nobody has betrayed anybody, whichever party he belongs to. All of us, on both sides, have defended and remained faithful to their beliefs. We had to work and together find a common ground for the years to come, for (New) Caledonians. Now that's what we need to explain", pro-France Rassemblement-LR leader Virginie Ruffenach said. In an interview earlier this week, Valls said he was very much aware of the local tensions. "I'm aware there are risks, even serious ones. And not only political. There are threats on elections, on politicians, on the delegations. What I'm calling for is debate, confrontation of ideas and calm". "I'm aware that there are extremists out there, who may want to provoke a civil war...a tragedy is always possible. "The risk is always there. Since the accord was signed, there have been direct threats on New Caledonian leaders, pro-independence or anti-independence. We're going to act to prevent this. There cannot be death threats on social networks against pro-independence or anti-independence leaders", Valls said. Over the past few days, special protection French Police officers have already been deployed to New Caledonia to take care of politicians who took part in the Bougival talks and wish to be placed under special scrutiny. "They will be more protected than (French cabinet) ministers", French national public broadcaster France Inter reported on Tuesday.
RNZ News
12-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
New Caledonia's political parties commit to 'historic' deal in France
French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls (centre) shows signatures on the last page of New Caledonia's new agreement Photo: FB supplied New Caledonia's pro-and-anti-independence parties committed on Saturday to a 'historic' deal regarding the future political status of the French Pacific territory, which is set to become, for the first time, a "State' within the French realm. The 13-page agreement, officially entitled "Agreement Project of the Future of New Caledonia", is the result of a solid 10 days of harsh negotiations between both pro and anti-independence parties who have stayed, under closed doors, at a hotel in the small city of Bougival, in the outskirts of Paris. The talks were convened by French President Emmanuel Macron, after an earlier series of talks, held between February and May 2025, failed to yield an agreement. After opening the talks on 2 July 2025, Macron handed over them to his Minister for Overseas, Manuel Valls, to oversee. Valls managed to bring together all parties around the same table earlier this year. In his opening speech earlier this month, Macron insisted on the need to restore New Caledonia's economy, which was brought to its knees following destructive and deadly riots that erupted in May 2024. He said France was ready to study any solution, including an "associated State" for New Caledonia. Group photo of participants at the end of negotiations Photo: Philippe Gomes During the following days, all political players exchanged views, under the seal of strict confidentiality. While the pro-independence movement, and its Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), remained adamant they would settle for no less than "full sovereignty", the pro-France parties were mostly arguing that three referendums, held between 2018 and 2021, had already concluded that most New Caledonians wanted New Caledonia to remain part of France. Those results, they said, dictated that the democratic result of the three consultations was to be respected. With this confrontational context, which resulted in an increasingly radicalised background in New Caledonia, that eventually led to the 2024 riots, the Bougival summit was dubbed the "summit of last chance." In the early hours of Saturday just before 7 a.m. (Paris time, 5 p.m. NZ time), after a sleepless night, the secret surrounding the Bougival talks finally ended with an announcement from Valls, who wrote in a release that all partners taking part in the talks had signed and "committed to present and defend the (agreement's) text, as it stands, on New Caledonia's future." Valls said this was a "major commitment resulting from a long work of negotiations during which New Caledonia's partners made the choice of courage and responsibility." The released document signed by almost 20 politicians, details what the deal would imply for New Caledonia's future. In its preamble, the fresh deal underlines that New Caledonia was "once again betting on trust, dialogue and peace", through "a new political organisation, a more widely shared sovereignty and an economic and social refoundation" for a "reinvented common destiny." New Caledonia's population will be called to approve the agreement in February 2026. If approved, the text would be the centrepiece of a "special organic law" voted by the local Congress. It would later have to be endorsed by the French Parliament and enshrined in a dedicated article of the French Constitution. One of the most notable developments in terms of future status for New Caledonia is the notion of a "State of New Caledonia", under a regime that would maintain it a part of France, but with a dual citizenship (France, New Caledonia). Another formulation used for the change of status is the often-used "sui generis", which in legal Latin, describes a unique evolution, comparable to no other. This would be formalised through a fundamental law to be endorsed by New Caledonia's Congress (Parliament) by a required majority of three-fifths. The number of MPs in the Congress would be 56. The text also envisages a gradual transfer of key powers currently held by France (such as international relations), but would not include portfolios such as defence, currency or justice. In diplomacy, New Caledonia would be empowered to conduct its own affairs, but "in respect of France's international commitments and vital interests." On defence matters, even though this would remain under France's powers, it is envisaged that New Caledonia would be "strongly" associated, consulted and kept informed, regarding strategy, goals and actions led by France in the Pacific region. On police and public order matters, New Caledonia would be entitled to create its own provincial and traditional security forces, in addition to national French law enforcement agencies. The sensitive issue of New Caledonia's electoral roll and conditions of eligibility to vote at local elections (including for the three Provincial Assemblies) is also mentioned in the agreement. It was this very issue that was perceived as the main trigger for the May 2024 riots, the pro-independence movement feared at the time that changing the conditions to vote would gradually place the indigenous Kanak community in a position of minority. It is now agreed that the electoral roll would be partly opened to those people of New Caledonia who were born after 1998. The roll was frozen in 2007 and restricted to people born before 1998, which is the date the previous major autonomy agreement of Nouméa was signed. Under the new proposed conditions to access New Caledonia's "citizenship", those entitled would include people who already can vote at local elections, but also their children or any person who has resided in New Caledonia for an uninterrupted ten years or who has been married or lived in a civil de facto partnership with a qualified citizen for at least five years. One of the first deadlines on the electoral calendar, the provincial elections, was to take place no later than 30 November 2025. It will be moved once again (for the third time) to May-June 2026. A significant part of the political deal is also dedicated to New Caledonia's economic "refoundation", with a high priority for the young generations, who have felt left out of the system and disenfranchised for too long. One of the main goals was to bring New Caledonia's public debts to a level of sustainability. In 2024, following the riots, France granted, in the form of loans, over one billion Euros for New Caledonia's key institutions to remain afloat. But some components of the political chessboard criticised the measure, saying this was placing the French territory in a state of excessive and long-term debt. Group photo of participants at the end of negotiations with the signed agreement Photo: Philippe_Gomes A major topic, on the macro-economic side, concerns New Caledonia's nickel mining industry, after years of decline that has left it (even before 2024) in a state of near-collapse. Nickel is regarded as the backbone of New Caledonia's economy. A nickel "strategic plan" would aim at re-starting New Caledonia nickel's processing plants, especially in the Northern province, but at the same time facilitating the export of raw nickel. There was also a will to ensure that all mining sites (many of which have been blocked and its installations damaged since the May 2024 riots) became accessible again. Meanwhile, France would push the European Union to include New Caledonia's nickel in its list of strategic resources. New Caledonia's nickel industry's woes are also caused by its lack of competitiveness on the world market (especially compared to Indonesia's recent rise in prominence in nickel production), because of the high cost of energy. Left to right – Sonia Backès, Nicolas Metzdorf, Gil Brial and Victor Tutugoro Photo: Nicolas Metzdorf The announcement, on Saturday, was followed by quick reactions, from all sides of New Caledonia's political spectrum, but also from mainland France's political leaders. French Prime Minister François Bayrou expressed "pride" to see an agreement, "on par with history", emerge. "Bravo also to the work and patience of Manuel Valls" and "the decisive implication of Emmanuel Macron", he wrote on X-Twitter. From the ranks of New Caledonia's political players, pro-France Nicolas Metzdorf said he perceived as one of the deal's main benefits the fact that "we will at last be able to project ourselves in the future, in economic, social and societal reconstruction without any deadline." Metzdorf admitted that reaching an agreement required concessions and compromise from both sides. "But the fact that we are no longer faced with referendums and to reinforce the powers of our provinces, this was our mandate", he told public broadcaster Outre-mer la 1ère. "We've had to accept this change from New Caledonia citizenship to New Caledonian nationality, which remains to be defined by New Caledonia's Congress. We have also created a completely new status as part of the French Republic, a sui generis State", he noted. He said the innovative status kept New Caledonia within France, without going as far as an "associated State" mooted earlier. "At least, what we have arrived at is that New Caledonians remain French", pro-France Le Rassemblement-LR prominent leader Virginie Ruffenach commented. "And those who want to contribute to New Caledonia's development will be able to do so through a minimum stay of residence, the right to vote and to become citizens and later New Caledonia nationals" "I'm aware that some could be wary of the concessions we made, but let's face it: New Caledonia Nationality does not make New Caledonia an independent State (...) It does not take away anything from us, neither of us belonging to the French Republic nor our French nationality", Southern Province pro-France President Sonia Backès wrote on social networks. In a joint release, the two main pro-France parties, Les Loyalistes and Rassemblement-LR, said the deal was no less than "historic" and "perennial" for New Caledonia as a whole, to "offer New Caledonia a future of peace, stability and prosperity" while at the same time considering France's Indo-Pacific strategy. From the pro-independence side, one of the negotiators, Victor Tutugoro -UNI-UPM (Progressist Union in Melanesia)- said what mattered is that "All of us have placed our bets on intelligence, beyond our respective beliefs, our positions, our postures." "We put all of these aside for the good of the country." "Of course, by definition, a compromise cannot satisfy anyone 100 percent. But it's a balanced compromise for everyone," he said. "And it allows us to look ahead, to build New Caledonia together, a citizenship and this common destiny everyone's been talking about for many years." Before politicians fly back to New Caledonia to present the deal to their respective bases, President Macron received all delegation members Saturday evening (Paris time) to congratulate them on their achievements. During the Presidential meeting at the Elysée palace, FLNKS chief negotiator Emmanuel Tjibaou (whose father Jean-Marie Tjibaou also struck a historic agreement and shook hands with pro-France leader Jacques Lafleur, in 1988), stressed the agreement was one step along the path and it allows to envisage new perspectives for the Kanak people. A sign of the changing times, but in a striking parallel: 37 years after his father's historic handshake with Lafleur, Emmanuel Tjibaou (whose father was shot dead in 1989 by a radical pro-independence partisan who felt the independence cause had been betrayed), did not shake hands, but instead fist pumped with pro-France's Metzdorf. In a brief message on social networks, the French Head of State hailed the conclusive talks, which he labelled "A State of New Caledonia within the (French) Republic," a win for a "bet on trust." "Now is the time for respect, for stability and for the sum of good wills to build a shared future." Signatures on the last page of New Caledonia's new agreement Photo: Philippe Dunoyer
RNZ News
03-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Macron, top leaders open New Caledonia's summit in Paris
France's President Emmanuel Macron, left, France's Minister of Overseas Manuel Valls, France's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, President of the French National Assembly Yael Braun-Pivet, Secretary General of the French Presidency Emmanuel Moulin, first vice-president of the customary senate of New Caledonia Ludovic Boula, representative of the second vice-president of the customary senate Victor Gogny, and President of the customary senate Aguetil Mahe Gowe attend a custom ceremony as the inauguration of a summit on New Caledonia at the Elysee Palace in Paris on 2 July 2025. Photo: AFP / Ludovic Marin French President Emmanuel Macron and France's top leaders have on Wednesday welcomed a strong delegation from New Caledonia to officially open a set of several summits dedicated to the French Pacific territory. A delegation from political leaders as well as representatives from New Caledonia's economic and civil society have converged to Paris over the past few days, responding to Macron's invitation for what he termed a "summit". The summit will be made up of several formats: the political one will be held at a luxury hotel in the city of Bougival (West of Paris), behind closed doors with no limitation in time until an agreement on New Caledonia's political future status is found and agreed upon by both pro-independence and pro-France parties. Political talks, sometimes dubbed the "last chance" meeting, were already underway in Bougival on Wednesday evening (Paris time), as soon as the official reception ended. The reception involved most of France's top leaders, including the French Prime Minister François Bayrou, State Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls, both Presidents of the French National Assembly (Yaël Braun-Pivet) and the Senate (Gérard Larcher). During a traditional "custom" ceremony of exchange of gifts between the Paris group and the delegation from New Caledonia, Macron's chief of staff Patrice Faure (who is a former French High Commissioner in New Caledonia), in line with Kanak protocol, spoke on behalf of the French President and presented a pen, "a pen, that could be used, we hope, to sign at least a compromise, if not an agreement, in the days or weeks to come". "Here, just as in New Caledonia, there are people who suffer to see you going through all these sufferings", Faure told the visiting leaders, stressing the "indefectible links that unite us". He also recalled the social, economic consequence of the May 2024 riots that have left 14 dead and over two billion Euros in material damages. Macron's invitation was aiming at initiating "a dialogue that could guarantee a sustainable political, social and cultural equilibrium, adapted to New Caledonia's reality", "beyond antagonistic logic" and to "build a shared, balanced and lasting future". The political talks are initially scheduled to last until this weekend, but are open-ended and could be extended if deemed necessary. The Paris talks follow a series of roundtables during most of the first quarter of 2025, in Paris and in Nouméa, under the auspices of French Overseas Minister Manuel Valls. Valls managed to bring back all political parties around the same table, something that had not happened since 2022. But the last series of meetings, dubbed a political "conclave" stalled early May 2025 after two of the largest pro-France parties, Rassemblement-LR and Les Loyalistes, refused to endorse Valls's project, which was proposing a transfer of French key powers, a dual French-Caledonian citizenship, in what pro-France parties perceived as a form of independence. Anti-independence parties maintain that following three referendums held between 2018 and 2021, the suggestion of an independent New Caledonia has been rejected three times and that, therefore, this democratic expression should be respected. The last referendum in December 2021 was largely boycotted by the pro-independence movement. Since the latest talks stalled, early May 2025, pro-France parties have been critical of the latest Valls proposal and have been lobbying with their mainland France (mostly right-wing) associates. They also are adamant that offering a form of independence-association to the pro-independence side would be a way of surrendering to the 2024 insurrectional violence that marked the riots. Last week, Bruno Retailleau, French Minister for Home Affairs and newly-elected President of the right-wing Les Républicains (LR) party (one of the prominent parties represented at the Lower House -National Assembly-) appointed New Caledonia's President Alcide Ponga one of his "special advisors". The LR party also threatened several times that if a political agreement on New Caledonia was written and approved outside France, Retailleau and his party would withdraw its support to Macron. "Bruno Retailleau, who is the Minister for Home Affairs, was very clear on this. If tomorrow, the government as a whole was to support an independence line on New Caledonia, it is absolutely obvious that we would leave the government without delay", LR Vice-President François-Xavier Bellamy (who recently visited New Caledonia) told local media. Macron's new approach is however triggering mixed reactions and sometimes reservations from New Caledonia's political parties, who mostly remain in the dark as to the French President's proposal details. The pro-France side believes that a "new approach" from Macron appears to address the issues they are defending, but they are still seeking clarifications from Paris. Outspoken pro-France leader and French National "What does France want for New Caledonia?", National Assembly MP Nicolas Metzdorf has been asking several times, including during question time in Parliament. He told French media earlier this week he was looking for "an agreement, not a compromise". Metzdorf and his associates are supporting another proposal of an "asymmetrical internal federalism" which purports to grant more autonomy (including in terms of tax revenue collection) for each of the three provinces in New Caledonia. This, they said, would provide for each province (Northern, Loyalty Islands and Southern provinces) to develop at their own respective paces, bearing in mind that the Southern province is the richest of all three, with the bulk of New Caledonia's population and the other two are mostly rural and population by the Kanak indigenous community. On the pro-independence side, which consists of the FLNKS (Kanak Socialists National Liberation Front), dominated by prominent Union Calédonienne party, but also the more moderate PALIKA (Kanak Liberation Party) and UPM (Progressist Union in Melanesia), the official stance is that they will take the Valls "sovereignty with France" project as the only basis for talks to resume and that they will not settle for anything less. "It won't take long to find out (if the Macron proposal) lasts", UC and FLNKS delegation leader Emmanuel Tjibaou said earlier this week. Tjibaou said his delegation "does not have the mandate to discuss any other proposal". Other "middle" moderate parties, Wallisian-based Eveil Océanien and pro-France Calédonie Ensemble, also tend to support France's latest proposal, but with nuances as per their own respective draft proposals. During a recent interview on Tuesday with French media BFMTV, Valls maintained he remained optimistic as to the outcome of the Bougival talks. "There's no other choice, we have to find a solution. It's complicated because we have to reconcile two contradictory aspirations: for New Caledonia to remain part of France and an aspiration to a full independence". "But I am still hopeful. Our dialogue is not ruptured", he said. "I believe an agreement is possible, because everyone is aware that the situation is extremely fragile and perilous and that without an agreement, it is impossible to rebuild New Caledonia, economically and socially (...) With the germs of a social explosion". "Links with France will always be there, no matter what", he assured. Separate from the strictly political talks, another "economic and social summit" later this week will bring together New Caledonia's economic, social and civil society stakeholders, as well as mayors, in order to address the consequences of the May 2024 riots. It takes place in another hotel near Paris, focusing on four key themes: public finance, structural reforms, economic diversification, a new society project and the crucial nickel mining sector industry.
