Riots in New Caledonia: the archipelago is “not the Wild West”, Emmanuel Macron aims to end the crisis by the end of June

Arriving on Thursday May 23, 2024 in Nouméa, the Head of State held consultations with the loyalists, in favor of this reform, and the separatists, who are hostile to it. LUDOVIC MARIN – POOL/EPA/MaxPPP

New Caledonia is in uncertainty on Friday May 24, 2024, the day after a visit by President Emmanuel Macron, who promised that the contested electoral reform on the archipelago would not pass "not in strength", but maintained the course of ending the crisis by the end of June.

"I decided to come because’we must never let violence take hold", explained the Head of State, in an interview with the public channel Nouvelle-Calédonie La 1ère, recorded during his express visit Thursday May 23, 2024.

Arriving Thursday May 23, 2024 in Nouméa, the Head of State held consultations with the loyalists, in favor of this reform, and the separatists, who are hostile to it.

"Not in strength"

This so-called "thaw" plans to expand the electorate for the provincial elections. It was this text that ignited the powder and triggered a wave of violence that the island had not seen for four decades.

The rioters, whose anger it provoked on May 13, before its adoption by the National Assembly on May 15, consider the way in which it has moved forward to be unacceptable, while according to them it will dilute the weight of indigenous people in political life.

Objective: a global agreement

"I am committed to ensuring that this reform does not pass through force", promised Mr. Macron.

But he asked "the resumption of dialogue with a view to a global agreement"to grant the right to vote to more voters, by the end of June, so that then "this agreement can be submitted to the vote of Caledonians& quot;.

Before this political deadline, the objective is to restore order in the days to come", he warned. "We are therefore going to take step by step each district, each roundabout, each dam", with among others "3 000 internal security forces".

"Not the Wild West"

In a television interview with New Caledonian journalists broadcast on Friday, he thus justified the forces involved: New Caledonia, "it’is not the Wild West".

"What I am asking immediately is the lifting of all blockages, the lifting of points of violence, and that there be a clear call for these liftings. By the FNLKS, the CCAT and all those responsible", he added.

The FNLKS is an independence movement invited to the negotiations, and the CCAT a radical independence organization accused by the authorities of fueling violence.

Six deaths, including two gendarmes, and considerable damage have been reported since the start of the clashes.

The state of emergency established on May 16 continues to prevail, with the accompanying measures: 12-hour curfew daily, ban on gatherings, transport of weapons and sale of alcohol, ban on the TikTok application.

This last measure, challenged before the Council of State, was confirmed by the administrative jurisdiction on Thursday. The roadblocks set up by the rioters also remain in place.

On the east coast of the Big Island, the crossroads between the road which crosses the center and the one which runs along the ocean is, for example, blocked. Passage is only granted to emergency vehicles.

"Phenomenal means"

In the Montravel district of Nouméa, activists are waiting on Friday for an official communication from the FLNKS on "the directives concerning the continuation of the movement& quot;.

"We also have to meet with the elders to discuss. For our part, we stand ready to continue the mobilization since apparently the President of the Republic does not want to listen to us", explains one of the rioters, who does not gives only his first name, Yamel.

"It will work if…"

"We are all waiting for the decision of the FLNKS", said the leader of the loyalists, Sonia Backès, on RRB radio.

"An agreement is possible if everyone is in good faith […] If everyone is of good will to show that’ we are ready to live together on this earth, it will work", she estimated.

But, she warned, the return to calm will take time. "The operations that are carried out neighborhood by neighborhood require phenomenal resources […] The police are being shot at with live ammunition. The dams are still very heavy to clear", according to Ms. Backès.

Life is slowly returning to life

Meanwhile, life is slowly returning. The Bank of New Caledonia, for example, announced the reopening of five of its 18 branches on Friday. Three of them were set on fire.

La Tontouta International Airport, on the other hand, has remained closed since May 14. No commercial flights will take place until Tuesday, its operator, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, announced on Friday. Neighboring countries are working hard to find ways to evacuate their nationals.

"Urgent priority"

The government of Vanuatu indicated that it was organizing the repatriation of some 160 students during the day on Friday, with three flights. According to images from the VBTC television channel, it was a French military plane which did the first.

New Zealand said repatriation remained "an urgent priority", following the arrival of 50 of its nationals Friday morning in Auckland. And Australian and New Zealand military aircraft are performing rotations with Nouméa aerodrome on Friday, according to the Flightradar24 website.