“There is a need to rethink our ways of doing things” et “a confidence to rebuild” with overseas territories, says their new minister, François-Noël Buffet. This first applies in a New Caledonia on its knees since the independence uprising of May 13. For his first four-day visit, which began on Wednesday October 16, Mr. Buffet hopes to convince people that he is using a new method.
“The desire is to understand each other better to avoid the mistakes of the recent past. The values of the Republic and Kanak values are complementary”repeated a member of the High Commission, bringing the word of the State during the traditional hello ceremonies to local institutions. By offering each time a Lyon silk, the minister then insisted on the symbol “of a very fragile thread alone and very strong when woven”. Enough to contradict a loyalist camp which had the ear of the previous government and in which Sonia Backès judges “feudal Kanak society” and his “antagonisms” with Western culture irreconcilable ».
In April 2023, François-Noël Buffet, then senator (Les Républicains, Rhône), was co-signatory of a report on Caledonian institutions, which warned of the risks of an inflammable reform: that of the enlargement of the local electoral body, carried out outside of a broader political agreement on the future of the territory and within the tight timetable chosen by the government of the day. “If this report has been considered a reference, it is because it is the result of real dialogue and listening work”assures today the minister Monde.
“Do not confuse weakness with patience”
On the political issue, specifies the former senator, “the electorate is not the focus of the moment. We must first respond to the absolute urgency of the economic and social collapse of New Caledonia”. And to clarify his thoughts: “We are giving ourselves time to build something solid. You miss a step and everything falls, that’s what we just saw” with the violent explosion in May. “We must not confuse weakness with patience. »
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The message was carried to the customary Senate, which claims a place in the reconstruction of New Caledonian society. The president of the institution, Mahé Gowe, criticized the past method on Wednesday, which according to him resulted in a “inability of the public authorities to initiate mediation so as to leave the initiative only to the justice system and the police”. Adding: “The institutional practice which was content to maintain a discriminating dualism between Western society and Kanak society has structured a profound social malaise. » We will have to agree “on the postulates and on the method”agreed the customary chief, it being understood for him that it is “necessary to take into account the fact that 90% of the indigenous population and its youth want independence”.
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