Who will dial 18e government of New Caledonia? After the fall of the Mapou government on December 24, caused by the collective resignation of Caledonia together, a new executive will succeed it. The election will take place at 9 a.m. this Tuesday, January 7, at Congress. To reach the quorum and for the vote to take place, at least 33 of the 54 councilors must be present in the hemicycle.
How are the seats of government members distributed?
Four lists were submitted to the Congress desk between December 30 and December 1is January. They are all made up of fourteen candidates, i.e. the number of members of the future executive (11) fixed by deliberation, plus three. The distribution between seats will be done according to the rule of “ballot proportional to the highest average”. If all the Congress advisors are present, each list of candidates will have to obtain at least five votes to hope to win a seat within the future executive.
Who are the candidates?
On the four lists submitted, several alliances were forged between the different political groups. The Rassemblement group and the Loyalists intergroup made a joint list, as did Calédonie ensemble and the Oceanian Awakening. On the separatist side, the Union for Independence (UNI) and the UC-FLNKS and Nationalists chose to present separate lists. In view of the current composition of the Congress, it is already possible to put forward a first scenario in the distribution of the seats of the 18e government.
With 9 votes, the Caledonia Ensemble-Oceanian Awakening list could win two seats, and thus elect Philippe Dunoyer and Petelo Sao. That of the Rassemblement-Loyalists (18 or 19 votes) should win four, which would then be occupied by Alcide Ponga, Thierry Santa, Christopher Gygès and Isabelle Champmoreau. The UC (15 votes) would obtain three seats for its list composed of Gilbert Tyuienon, Mickaël Forrest and Samuel Hnepeune, while that of the UNI (11 votes) would gain two, planned for Adolphe Digoué and Claude Gambey.
Will the president be elected this Tuesday?
This is the big question that remains. Once elected, the new members of the government will have to appoint a president and vice-presidents, during a meeting convened by the high commissioner. The latter has five days to bring together the new members of the executive. According to the previous hypothesis, the non-independence parties, with six seats out of eleven, should be in a strong position to choose a president from their side.
But the two alliances each have their favorite. The Caledonia Ensemble-Oceanian Awakening list favors Philippe Dunoyer, while that of the Rally-Loyalists wants to see Alcide Ponga ascend to the head of the executive. On the side of the separatists, the probable absence of a majority does not prevent the UC from having already considered a potential president, in the person of Samuel Hnepeune.
Without agreement, the high commissioner will have to bring them together again, until a majority emerges around a name. In 2021, it took five months for the independence majority to choose between Louis Mapou and Samuel Hnepeune.
Baptiste Gouret for Les Nouvelles calédoniennes
