“It’s time to say that New Caledonia has a future, which can be shared”

This is an unprecedented mission that the presidents of the National Assembly and the Senate will carry out together, from Monday November 11 to Wednesday November 13, in New Caledonia. The sign, assure Yaël Braun-Pivet and Gérard Larcher, that the file requires the mobilization of all the country’s institutions. On May 13, after months of peaceful independence mobilization, devastating urban violence broke out in Greater Nouméa. Shortly after, the National Assembly adopted a constitutional bill modifying the New Caledonian electorate, a text pushed by Emmanuel Macron and the loyalists, but rejected by the separatists. Faced with the disastrous consequences of the insurrection for the 270,000 inhabitants of Caillou, the State should mobilize 1.4 billion euros in exceptional credits for 2024-2025.

The Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, could visit the territory at the beginning of 2025. In Matignon, where the file has been attached, a technical mission will pilot the reconstruction in conjunction with the Minister for Overseas Territories, François-Noël Buffet. At the same time, the executive wants political discussions to resume, with the prospect of a meeting between independentists and non-independentists at the Elysée at the end of the year.

As early as May, the presidents of the National Assembly and the Senate had called for a dialogue mission. The two parliamentarians believe today that the responsibilities for the crisis are multiple. They call for a “new method” so that New Caledonians can dialogue around the question of self-determination and write the future of their territory. According to them, it is necessary to link the economic response to a political solution « original » of “shared sovereignty” with France, to get New Caledonia out of the rut.

You are about to leave for an unprecedented two-headed mission in New Caledonia. What is its meaning, six months after the explosion of violence of May 13?

Gérard Larcher: The situation generated by May 13 is that of a tragedy. And tragedy, as La Rochefoucauld said, can allow people to find themselves. New Caledonians want to return to a path of dialogue, even if it will not be easy. We are here to help, with humility, but it will not be yet another mission. We will be gone for six days in total, in the middle of examining the budget, which is no small thing. It is time to say that New Caledonia has a future, which can be shared.

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