the essential
Yaël Braun-Pivet and Gérard Larcher, respectively president of the National Assembly and the Senate, are flying this Saturday, November 9, to New Caledonia. They will be in the Caledonian archipelago for a mission which will last until November 14.
In the absence of the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, who could go there in early 2025, New Caledonia will welcome the presidents of the National Assembly and the Senate from November 9 to 14. Yaël Braun-Pivet and Gérard Larcher go there for a dangerous “consultation” mission, six months after the start of the violence which left 13 dead and billions of euros in damage.
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They were tasked by the head of government with resuming dialogue between the loyalist and independence camps after the aborted bill on the issue of the electoral thaw. Adopted on May 15 by the National Assembly after being validated by the Senate, this law provides for the extension of the right to vote to people residing for at least 10 years in the archipelago. The bill will ultimately not be submitted to a vote by Congress (necessary for its promulgation, Editor's note) as Michel Barnier announced during his general policy speech.
This expansion of the right to vote, considered by the “Kanak” separatists (named after the indigenous population) as a new attack against them, ignited the powder. The island has been in crisis ever since. A current curfew from 6 p.m. until 5 a.m. is still in force, gatherings in the capital Nouméa are still prohibited, as is the transport of jerry cans of gasoline…
“Return to a dialogue path”
The two parliamentarians are going to the island in the hope of calming the situation and outlining different solutions to end the crisis. They explained the motivation for this visit in an interview published in The World. “New Caledonians want to return to a path of dialogue,” declared Gérard Larcher, who believes he is there “to help.” The President of the Assembly, for her part, insists on the nature of “such a trip” which is taking place for “the first time”.
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The two politicians are walking a tightrope as they try to reconcile separatists who want a “trajectory for self-determination” and loyalists who, dissatisfied with the current situation, want a “new solution”. In this sense, the President of the Senate once again mentioned the concept of “shared sovereignty”.
Whatever the discussions and the bases that will be laid for a future agreement, the representatives of the parliamentarians seem to agree on the fact that “it is the New Caledonians who will define it”.
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The two presidents announced that they would not limit themselves to the political question and called for progress on the New Caledonian nickel crisis, as well as on the entire economic problem (imports fell by 30% in September). To deal with the consequences of the crisis, the State should mobilize 1.4 billion euros in exceptional credits for 2024-2025.
