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The different possible options for a political agreement
Hello everyone,
Faced with the failure of representative democracy to find a solution to the insurrectional crisis that New Caledonia has been experiencing for four months now through a political agreement, what options remain to date to avoid an escalation like in 1988?
Before listing the various options available, the association recalls that the draft Constitution of the State of Kanaky presented by the FLNKS to the UN in 1987 provided in its Article 4, via a popular referendum, a right to recall an elected representative by direct suffrage (see RAPPORT-FINALANNEXES.pdf (gip-recherche-justice.fr), annexe.2).
The association considers it regrettable that this right still does not exist not only on the territory but more broadly in French law, given the responsibility of the political class, all sides combined, in the current situation of the country and the continuation of its positions that do not allow any consensual outcome. It should also be recalled that, while a large number of Caledonians are today on partial or total unemployment, our political representatives continue to receive their salaries.
So, in order to answer the question of some of our readers about what solutions exist to find a political agreement: 5 options have so far been considered or even tried without success so far.
The first one we will call “ROCARD method” from the name of the former Prime Minister of the French government who in 1988 made it possible to finalize an agreement with the different movements (independence and loyalists) of New Caledonia. Although already in the pipeline because discussed by the different parties since 1984 or even before, the ROCARD method consisted of putting a final point to a political agreement through a method aimed at locking the different protagonists for several hours in the same place in order to reach this agreement , failing which New Caledonia would be placed under state supervision and martial law. The President of the Republic tried the same approach in Noumea during his 24-hour visit to New Caledonia at the end of May, unfortunately without success.
The second solution mentioned by some, and which the President of the Republic is particularly fond of, is the “citizens’ convention” . Implemented many times during Emmanuel Macron’s mandate with a view to finding solutions to problems, particularly in metropolitan France, this option consists of appointing a representative panel from the population, paid for the occasion, who, like a juror for a trial, are brought together to debate the solutions to be implemented with regard to a specific problem . This method consists of appealing to the sovereign people directly. This solution was not proposed in New Caledonia by the President. It should be noted, however, that the various conventions held in metropolitan France have produced few results because there is generally little follow-up to the facts.
The third option considered, defended by the association, would consist of calling on the world of “experts,” in other words intellectuals, and in particular in New Caledonia, academics in public law, some of whom have already worked on different possible solutions. It would thus be interesting to bring them together in order to compare their opinions with a view to drafting an agreement that would then be submitted to a referendum by the population. The problem is that they remain paid by the French State (what about impartiality). While some academics, contacted by the association, seem to be interested in the approach, nothing has yet been undertaken on their own initiative. The University of New Caledonia (UNC) has so far only committed to making these premises available to the “Country Collective for Dialogue,” composed of members of the “Committee of Wise Men” with a view to organizing meetings with the population.
The fourth possible path would be, as suggested by JJ Urvoas, former Minister of Justice, again from the French State, notably from the Assembly and the Senate , (see RTL GUEST – New Caledonia: Jean-Jacques Urvoas denounces a “situation of failure to assist a person in danger” ) which, as the former minister reminds us, remains a power, if not the first power in France, which the population tends to forget. The two chambers are often perceived as either consultative (for the Senate) or subservient to the executive power (for the assembly) under the 5th Republic, often waiting for the government to propose laws in order to vote on them, whereas it is up to Parliament to define the law and it can take action itself. Thus, hoping, as suggested by JJ Urvoas, that the assembly and the senate do not wait for the government to move. It should be noted that for the time being no solution proposal has come from these institutions and, on the contrary, they voted for the law on the thawing of the electoral body which was at the origin of the May insurrection.
The fifth and final track, still according to JJ Urvoas, would be for the State to move forward and particularly for the Prime Minister to propose (see avenir-nouvelle-caledonie_
If the former Prime Minister, G.Attal, never went to New Caledonia , the “martyr document” issued by his government to propose ways out of the Noumea Accord was perceived as nothing other than a project reflecting the Macron government’s intention to integrate New Caledonia into a tighter French framework by removing it from the Noumea Accord to go further in the expectations of the loyalist forces in favor of a constitutional rapprochement with France . And in fact, this new agreement, which ultimately aims to replace the Noumea Accord, goes back on achievements. Not only is it contrary to the spirit of the historic Noumea Agreement signed in 1998, but it is also contrary to the text of which it violates the principle of irreversibility (see Riots in New Caledonia: how Darmanin lit the powder keg (off-investigation.fr) ).
Find one of the versions of this famous “martyr document” at the link above.
The departure, at the end of September, of a delegation of Caledonian elected officials, cross-party, to France with a view to presenting a plan for the reconstruction of New Caledonia to the State within 5 years could be once again an opportunity to discuss a potential political agreement, even if few Caledonians believe it, particularly in view of the content of the aid plan requested from the State aimed at building, among other things, a prison more expensive than the hospital on the island where the prison population is almost entirely of Kanak origin, an agricultural high school in the South Province when one already exists in the North Province, and potentially a bypass road for the St-Louis tribe or a tunnel. Thus, of the 500 billion Pacific francs, nearly a third would be intended for construction sites not for the development of the Kanak population but for its marginalization, which is hardly a sign of changes in mentalities, particularly in the non-independence camp. It is not surprising that some independence supporters abstained from this reconstruction plan.
We wish you a good read and remind you that federalism is the only solution to reconcile unity in diversity.
The APROFED association