The French president visits the Pacific region where electoral reform plans have sparked the worst unrest in 30 years.
French President Emmanuel Macron said French troops would remain in New Caledonia “as long as necessary” following more than a week of unrest sparked by France’s plans to change election rules in the Pacific island territory.
Macron arrived in New Caledonia’s capital Noumea on Thursday. This comes as protests continue against voting reforms that indigenous Kanak people say will dilute their voter turnout and weaken their fight for independence.
This reform allows French citizens who have lived in New Caledonia for more than 10 years to vote in New Caledonia’s local elections.
Macron said about 3,000 soldiers have been deployed from Paris since the violence began and could stay until the Paris Olympics begin on July 26.
Since the protests broke out and a state of emergency was declared, six people have been killed, including three young Kanaks, and about 280 people have been arrested.
President Macron observed a minute’s silence for the victims and said he would oppose extending the state of emergency if obstacles and barricades were removed.
The French president also met on Thursday with Louis Mapou, president of the pro-independence New Caledonian government, and Roche Wamitan, head of parliament, at the residence of the French High Commissioner to New Caledonia in Noumea.
Macron arrived in Noumea after flying about 17,000 kilometers from mainland France and was expected to remain in New Caledonia for about 12 hours.
Protesters waving New Caledonian flags lined the streets as the French president’s convoy traveled along the newly opened road from the international airport to Noumea.
“I don’t know why people who don’t even live here are discussing our fate,” said Mike Kanak, 52, at a barricade north of the capital the day before Macron arrived.
According to Reuters, about 90 barricades set up by protesters were removed by heavily armed police and paramilitary forces, but new barricades were still being erected the night before President Macron arrived.
Jimmy Naouna of the Socialist National Liberation Front of New Caledonia (FLNKS) said the pro-independence party had urged protesters to remove roadblocks and called on President Macron to scrap plans for electoral reforms.
“When Macron visits Kanaki, I expect he will make a strong announcement that he will withdraw this election bill,” Naouna said. “If he came as a provocation, the situation could get worse.” The arrival of the President, using the island’s indigenous name.
The Kanak people make up about 40% of the population of just over 300,000 people living in New Caledonia, located between Australia and Fiji in the Pacific Ocean.
In 1998, France agreed to cede more political power to the territory under the so-called Noumea Agreement and to limit voting in New Caledonia’s local and parliamentary elections to people who lived on the island at the time.
Around 40,000 French citizens have moved to New Caledonia since 1998, and the changes expand the electoral register to also include people who have lived in the region for 10 years.
The Noumea Agreement also included three independence referendums, the last of which took place in December 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pro-independence groups boycotted the vote in favor of remaining in France and rejected the results.
Last week, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told TV channel France 2 that Azerbaijan, along with China and Russia, was “interfering” in New Caledonia.
“We regret that some leaders who support Caledonian independence have made a deal with Azerbaijan,” Darmanin said.
