Gérard Larcher and Yaël Braun-Pivet in New Caledonia for a consultation mission

The presidents of the Senate and the National Assembly, Gérard Larcher and Yaël Braun-Pivet, are going to New Caledonia from this Saturday, November 9 until Thursday, November 14 for a consultation mission, we learned Wednesday with the two presidencies.

This mission of “consultation and dialogue” of the presidents of the two chambers was announced by Prime Minister Michel Barnier during his general policy declaration, in a desire to appease the archipelago ravaged by several months of violence.

The travel program of the two political figures and the composition of their delegation have not been detailed at this stage by their respective presidencies, the day after a meeting on the subject, organized at the Elysée alongside President Emmanuel Macron and of the Prime Minister.

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“One of the objectives is to see how we can reopen the dialogue with all parties to try to determine a road map”Yaël Braun-Pivet told AFP on Wednesday. Those around him say that the mission will be “strictly parliamentary and independent”also arguing that Yaël Braun-Pivet, like Gérard Larcher, “are recognized as informed interlocutors on the Caledonian question” et “are familiar with local issues”.

“Return of dialogue”

Overseas Minister François-Noël Buffet has just returned from a visit to New Caledonia devastated by riots which left 13 dead and billions of euros in damage. He hammered home the importance of “return of dialogue” between the loyalist and independence camps.

At the same time, Parliament is currently examining a text aimed at postponing the provincial elections from December 2024 to November 2025 at the latest, a promise from Michel Barnier submitted to the Senate for a vote on Wednesday.

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The head of government had also announced the abandonment of the constitutional reform unfreezing the electoral body specific to these local elections, which had ignited the powder on the archipelago in the spring, the independence camp fearing to see the indigenous Kanak people marginalized.

To date, only natives of “Caillou” and residents who arrived before 1998 can participate in this election, a situation considered undemocratic by the loyalist camp. This derogation from the principles of universality and equality of suffrage is considered “particularly significant” and more and more « excessive » by the Council of State, raising the risk of cancellation of the next election if it were held without modification of the electorate.