Supporters of the PS2R and those of the five-year plan continue their awareness campaign among the upper echelons of central power in France, to try to rally parliamentarians and the government to their cause.
Some leave, others arrive. In Paris, the week which opens should give way to a crossover between the defenders of the PS2R and those of the five-year plan. Two camps engaged for several months now in a real long-distance race, the winner of which will probably reap profits. “political dividends”to use the expression of MP Nicolas Metzdorf on Radio Rythme Bleu on November 19.
This month, the first to take the initiative were the members of the government, supporters of PS2R. Accompanied by Christopher Gygès, Thierry Santa, Gilbert Tyuienon and Yannick Slamet, President Louis Mapou embarked on a succession of political meetings in the capital.
Since November 14, the delegation led by the executive has met – among others – Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Michel Barnier, the Minister of the Economy Antoine Armand, the Minister of Overseas François-Noël Buffet and even representatives of AFD, the French Development Agency.
A marathon at the end of which Louis Mapou announced this week the probable adjustment of the loan guaranteed by the State. The sum, which should benefit Caillou in 2025 if the local government validates it, will now amount to 120 billion francs. In return, the territory will have to clean up its finances because Matignon “requests that a certain number of reforms be undertaken in New Caledonia”confirmed Louis Mapou after his announcement without specifying the measures concerned.
“The State will support us with any technical or legal expertise needs that we may have, and even on an economic level”clarified the president, whose remarks will certainly reinforce the criticisms of Calédonie Ensemble and l'Eveil occanien. Last October, the two parties already estimated that the State had clearly made the choice of PS2R, in principle much less costly for national finances than the five-year plan.
In any case, Louis Mapou is heading back this Sunday, November 24 after ten days in France. He will also board the same plane as Emmanuel Moulin, the high-ranking official designated by Michel Barnier to prepare the establishment of the interministerial delegation in New Caledonia. During his visit, scheduled for November 25 to 29, this former Director General of the Treasury will work in parallel on the technical feasibility of the reforms planned in the PS2R.
Coincidence of the calendar or not, a pro-five-year plan delegation will fly to Paris the same day of the arrival of Emmanuel Moulin and his team. According to our information, the group will notably be composed of Philippe Gomes (Calédonie Ensemble), Virginie Ruffenach (Rassemblement), Milakulo Tukumuli (Oceanian Awakening) and a representative of the Loyalists.
For supporters of the project originally carried out by Calédonie Ensemble, will this second trip in the space of two months allow this time to tip the scales? The main people concerned want to believe it. They are now defending a “three-year” version of their plan, focused on subsidies of around 102 billion CFP francs instead of guaranteed loans, which they estimate will only worsen Caillou's debt. .
If the defenders of the two plans have repeatedly repeated that there is no competition between the projects, the criticisms distilled over the weeks seem to demonstrate the opposite. “How can the government negotiate a loan without authorization from Congress and present a reform plan which has not been adopted by the latter either?”wondered for example the Oceanian Awakening, in a press release released this week.
“New Caledonia deserves better than a pile of loans without a long-term vision”said the Rally at the end of its press conference organized on Friday.
Pro-PS2R and pro-five-year plan have each understood the need to convince Parisian decision-makers. But not everyone addresses the same people. While the Caledonian executive has increased its meetings with the central government, the interinstitutional delegation plans instead to go through the political groups of the National Assembly and the Senate, in order to defend amendments to the 2025 finance bill.
“By going through parliament, we have a chance of forcing the state’s hand”estimates a source close to the matter, aware that such an initiative will not necessarily please Emmanuel Macron. “During the first trip to Paris, the president did not agree at all. It was a snub for him.”
Will the fact of favoring meetings with deputies and senators to the detriment of the government prove fruitful? There is room for doubt, especially since even after having attracted the support of all the groups at the beginning of October, the first trip by the interinstitutional delegation did not result in any major announcements.
This time it will also be necessary to take into consideration the prospect of a 49.3, the direction towards which Matignon seems to be heading to pass his finance bill. If the hypothesis were confirmed, Prime Minister Michel Barnier would therefore have no obligation to retain the amendments adopted by parliamentarians.
