Opinion on the State’s summary document and draft of a Caledonian Constitution by the IA

The association welcomes the resumption of discussions laying the foundations for possible negotiations to be held in March.

The association also welcomes the content of the summary document, which sets out several principles developed by the association as part of its project to continue the Matignon-Oudinot and Noumea agreements, which laid the foundations for a federal organisation in New Caledonia.

Thus, in addition to the adoption of a possible fundamental law (Constitution) for New Caledonia as the independence supporters wished in the 1980s , the announcement of a new stage in the self-organization capacity of the NC by devoting to it the competence of competence ( page. 4) , would consist of providing the territory with more than simple autonomy but the power to operate its executive, legislative and judicial system , granting it freedom of internal organization, in other words internal sovereignty , a capacity not to have the will of others imposed on its internal affairs (principles of non-interference), a sort of “small independence” before the great one which will be defined during a new vote of self-determination after a transition period still to be defined.

The association therefore welcomes these various announcements that it has been advocating since the start of the May 2024 uprising.

Regarding the specific points and hypotheses raised in the document, the association recalls its orientations below.

In terms of self-determination (page 5), a mix of hypotheses 2 and 4 should be retained , namely to provide New Caledonia with a status of broad autonomy in 2025 (equivalent to that of a federated State) without prejudice to the exercise of the inalienable right to self-determination at the end of a period to be determined, which we set at 30 years, at the latest on September 24, 2053. During this period, sharing of certain sovereign powers , in particular justice and internal security for our part , and construction of a Caledonian citizenship .

Regarding the sharing of skills (page 5), we opt for option no. 2, namely the transfer of articles 23 and 27 to the NC .

As for the field of international relations (page 6), the association is again moving towards a mix of hypotheses 1 and 2 , namely maintaining shared competence between the NC and the State with, however, training by the latter of representatives of the NC in order to increase their skills in this area so that they can, on the one hand, be kept informed of France’s international discussions which could impact New Caledonia and, on the other hand, why not, allow local authorities to be able to negotiate with international authorities of the same status such as federated states, like Queensland or others. State-to-State diplomacy is reserved for France.

Regarding the assumptions regarding citizenship (page 7), the association reiterates its point of view, namely that those born with a parent and a grandparent, themselves born or residing in NC, have the possibility of automatically accessing this citizenship . They thus have positive discrimination against them and tax, real estate, salary advantages, etc. Another intermediate category can be established for “Caledonians of heart” who have resided in the territory for at least 30 years, or 20 years with the obligation to pass a citizenship test. Since the status of spouse does not offer any advantage, they will nevertheless be able to work in NC as patent holders, business leaders, employees only of associations or foundations or even housemen or housewives. The acquisition of real estate does not allow one to obtain the status of citizen.

These principles also apply to access to the electorate. As a result, none of the hypotheses proposed in the summary document are appropriate for the association.

Concerning the governance and the Caledonian institutions, in particular on the powers of the provinces (page.8), the association would lean more towards solution no. 1, namely the status quo . Although we understand the political existence of the provinces having allowed a beginning of rebalancing with regard to the first people and especially the return to peace for all Caledonians, the association is for its part ultimately for their suppression. These would remain at the administrative and technical level but under the aegis of the territory. The powers of the provinces would be distributed between the territory and the municipalities, similar to what some French politicians want for the metropolitan departments. Solution no. 2, aimed at strengthening the fiscal and economic autonomy of the provinces, could be considered, following the example of the intercommunalities (EPCI) in France. However, care should be taken to ensure that this does not take over all the powers of the territory, as the loyalists wish through their project of “internal federalism”, and inadvertently the powers of the municipalities as well.

Furthermore, tax collection must remain in the territory , distributing it as today to other communities, and not the other way around in order to continue to maintain equality before tax and therefore a feeling of belonging to NC.

For the hypotheses mentioned on the distribution keys between provinces (page 8) and the distribution of seats in Congress (page 9), the association favors the first hypothesis, namely the status quo .

The proposal of Enrico Letta, which the association respects, to rename the Congress “Parliament of New Caledonia” , with a view to adopting a bicameral system as proposed on page 10 with the construction of a second parliamentary chamber which would bring together the merger of the customary senate and the members of the CESE-NC as proposed in the hypotheses mentioned for the customary senate, seems appropriate to us . Thus the Congress of the NC would designate the grouping of these 2 chambers in particular in the context of possible modifications of the fundamental law which would be the Caledonian Constitution. Therefore, the association supports, concerning the customary senate, a mix of hypotheses 2 and 3 formulated against it. It is worth recalling that the hypothesis of a second chamber, called the “Assembly of Countries,” was proposed by MP Pidjot in 1983 as an amendment to the Lemoine statute before the National Assembly.Within this assembly, Melanesian chiefs would have been elected by the tribes and communes in the six newly created cultural regions. Unfortunately, this proposal was not adopted (see CHAPPELL David, The Kanak Awakening, The Rise of Nationalism in New Caledonia, UNC-Madrépores, 2013, p.213).

Finally, for the municipalities, the protection of their current status is essential in relation to provinces wishing for more powers , although subsequent developments could be envisaged in the territory once it has the capacity for self-organisation with “the competence of competence”.

Hoping that all the stakeholders will be present during the negotiations to be held at the end of March with the Minister for Overseas Territories.

If some have already made known certain conditions, see their distance with this summary document offering however a better future than that proposed by G. Darmanin (martyr document) which on the contrary brought the NC back to the past, the association tends to remind the entire local political class, a warning from Michel Rocard to JM Tjibaou and J. Lafleur during the negotiations in Paris which consisted, in the case where they came to persist in their respective radicalisms, to place the territory under the supervision of France with possible intervention of the army, thus reminding local leaders, a famous quote from Balzac wanting that a bad arrangement is better than a good trial.

In light of the potential drafting of a New Caledonian Constitution, the association has once again approached the AI ​​to provide us with an overview of such a document. You can find the full text below:

Draft Constitution by AI
The association nevertheless regrets that the courageous proposals of the Minister for Overseas Territories through the summary document proposed by his services only concern New Caledonia and are not intended for all overseas territories or even metropolitan regions themselves.