The situation is tense in New Caledonia. The high commission of the Republic of the archipelago announced a curfew for the night from Tuesday to Wednesday in the urban area of Nouméa, scene of unrest of “great intensity” echoing the examination in Paris of a constitutional reform denounced by the separatists.
The curfew is decreed from Tuesday 6 p.m. to Wednesday 6 a.m., the state representative announced Tuesday. “It can be renewed as often as necessary.”
The separatists mobilized
Any gathering is prohibited in greater Nouméa, as is the transport and carrying of weapons and the sale of alcohol throughout New Caledonia, indicated the high commission, which invites the approximately 270,000 inhabitants of the archipelago to stay at home.
The first altercations with the police began on Monday, on the sidelines of a pro-independence mobilization against the constitutional reform examined in the National Assembly, which aims to expand the electorate in provincial elections. Opponents criticize a thaw which risks “even further minoritizing the indigenous Kanak people”.
Vehicles set on fire, stores looted, start of mutiny among detainees… “Disturbances of public order of great intensity took place last night (Monday to Tuesday) in Nouméa and in the neighboring communes, and are still underway at this time. hour,” lamented the high commission, reporting “numerous injuries” among the police. “At this stage, 36” rioters were arrested.
Heated debates in the Assembly
In Paris, discussions are slipping. The deputies will resume this Tuesday afternoon the heated examination of the text aimed at expanding the electoral body specific to the provincial election of New Caledonia, a sensitive point which rekindles tensions between loyalists and separatists.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin called on deputies to adopt without modification this reform, which opens the Caledonian provincial election to residents who have lived on the island for at least ten years. But, while a solemn vote was normally planned for Tuesday afternoon, the debates could not be concluded during the night, due to the number of amendments tabled in particular by the LFI group.
Macron wants to “prioritize dialogue”
After that of the Senate, the approval of the Assembly is necessary to move this text forward, before bringing Parliament together in Congress to revise the Constitution, on a date which remains to be fixed. Advocating appeasement, Emmanuel Macron promised on Sunday not to convene the Congress “in the wake of” the Assembly vote, according to his entourage, to “prioritize dialogue”.
Still seeking a global institutional agreement, Gérald Darmanin assured that local stakeholders will be invited “quickly” to Paris to “discuss around the Prime Minister, around the government”. But this “outstretched hand” is, according to him, for the moment “refused” by the independence camp.