Militants and protesters clashed with police in downtown Nouméa on Wednesday as New Caledonia plays host to three French government ministers this week.
The crowd – an estimated 2000 according to organisers, 500 according to police – had been called to voice their opposition to a French-planned constitutional amendment process which would include the modification of New Caledonia’s electoral roll for local elections.
As the three French ministers were on official calls in various places, in downtown Nouméa, police fired teargas to disperse the crowd.
Five policemen were reported to have been injured at various levels, including one seriously hit by rocks, the French High Commission stated, adding five protesters were arrested shortly afterwards.
The protest had been called and organised by Union Calédonienne’s self-styled “field action coordinating cell” (Cellule de Coordination des actions de terrain, CCAT), which consists of hard-line trade union USTKE and UC’s close ally, the Labour party.
Later on Wednesday, the crowd was dispersed and allowed to move out of downtown Nouméa.
“It’s completely out of the question to ‘unfreeze’ the electoral roll,” UC president Daniel Goa, who was part of the crowd, told local media.
“This kind of call to hatred, directly from UC…must stop. Violent protests will not halt the electoral roll being ‘unfrozen’.” pro-France politician Nicolas Metzdorf said in a statement.
French Home Affairs and Overseas Minister Gérald Darmanin, who is now regarded as a regular visitor, arrived on Tuesday and this time was flanked with his newly appointed “delegate” minister for Overseas, Marie Guévenoux, as well as French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti.
This is Darmanin’s sixth visit to New Caledonia over the past 12 months.
In a relatively polarised context, numerous attempts by Darmanin to bring all parties around the same table in order to all agree on a forward-looking agreement have so far failed.
His previous visits were focused on attempting to bring about inclusive talks concerning New Caledonia’s political future which could materialise through an amendment to the French Constitution.
The amendment contains sensitive issues, including a revision of New Caledonia’s list of eligible voters at local elections, with a ten-year minimum residency period for any French citizen to be allowed to cast their vote.
FLNKS’s 2 major components: diverging views
While the two main components of FLNKS (UC and PALIKA -Kanak Liberation Party-) have at the weekend held separate meetings and announced diverging approaches vis-à-vis France’s proposed reforms, the pro-independence umbrella FLNKS has now re-is scheduled its Congress on 23 March.
Even though most local parties in New Caledonia have started to exchange views on the sensitive subject, one of the main components of the pro-independence front, the FLNKS, namely the Union Calédonienne (UC), has so far refused to take part in the inclusive, bipartisan round tables.
After convening UC’s steering committee in Houaïlou, UC Vice-president Gilbert Tyuienon earlier this week told a press conference it intended once again to hold a series of actions, through its recently revived “field action coordinating cell” (Cellule de Coordination des actions de terrain, CCAT).
“We have asked (the CCAT) and its young members to take all steps on the field,” he said.
The thinly veiled threat materialised on Wednesday with CCAT militants, including members of the Labour Party and hard-line union USTKE, deploying banners opposing the planned Constitution review being placed in the capital Nouméa, also sometimes roadside burning tyres in the suburban city of Mont-Dore.
Tyuienon also claimed that it considered French-promoted political talks were “a failure” and labelled Darmanin’s travel to New Caledonia as “yet another provocation” and that the proposed text is potentially “destabilising (New Caledonia’s (political) balances”.
“There is a formal opposition from UC to meet the ministers…we know who is responsible for this situation,” Tyuienon told reporters.
He said UC now demands that the whole French Constitutional amendment project be scrapped altogether “or else we’re heading for big trouble”.