MPs under pressure

The APROFED association is contacting you again at the end of this week following the publication of an article in Le Figaro by Sonia Backès which claims that the deputies who do not vote for the Bougival agreement will be giving credence to those who have destroyed everything in New Caledonia (cf. Sonia Backès: “The deputies who do not vote for the Bougival agreement will be giving credence to those who have destroyed everything in New Caledonia” ).

For the association, on the contrary, the deputies who vote in favour of the Bougival-Elysée-Oudinot project will thus explicitly legitimize the notion of supremacism of state institutions over the people, in other words the validation of a superiority and domination of some over others, of one people over another , of one civilization over another, bringing back to the dark hours of nationalism and colonialism, legitimizing in addition to racism at the highest level of the State that of the law of the strongest .

The association also objects to the remarks of the Minister for Overseas Territories, who declared that for New Caledonia, it’s Bougival or nothing (see Draft Constitutional Bill on New Caledonia: “It’s Bougival or nothing,” as Naïma Moutchou points out ). However, besides the Kanaky project , other alternatives are possible , as Carine David, Professor of Public Law, reminds us (see New Caledonia: A Retrospective Look at the Process of Withdrawing from the Nouméa Accord – Jean-Jaurès Foundation ). It is surprising that the President of the Republic has not implemented one of his pet projects, namely a collective bargaining agreement, to involve the population in finding a solution.

Unfortunately, the State seems to have chosen to push ahead at all costs , to force through its project, reminiscent of the Pons method and the right wing of the 1980s , as MP Tjibaou points out (see Emmanuel Tjibaou: “The democratic legitimacy of what emerges from institutional discussions is undermined” | Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes ), which subsequently led to the events in the Ouvéa cave. Does the current State intend to repeat the mistakes of the past? As long as no clashes occur on metropolitan soil, even in Paris as with the Yellow Vests, the New Caledonian issue and its upheavals seem quite distant.

The association points out that every Kanak uprising since colonization has resulted in at least one hundred deaths, both among the indigenous people and among the descendants of settlers and deportees, as well as among the state’s armed forces (gendarmes). With the death of Frédéric Grochain on February 6, 2026 (see Saône-et-Loire: Imprisoned in Varennes-le-Grand following the New Caledonia riots, a 31-year-old Kanak man found dead in his cell ), the death toll has now reached 16 since the uprising began in 2024.

The association also recalls that this insurrection and the damage reported by Ms. Backès were only the consequence and not the cause of an initial power grab by the State and local loyalist parties regarding the desire to unfreeze the electoral body via an initial draft law to amend the Constitution, which a portion of the Caledonian population (>40%) opposed.

Loyalists are outraged that a minority can block or even impose its vision on the majority, going so far as to invoke a denial of democracy. However, as the saying goes, ” democracy is not the rule of the majority, but the protection of the minority  .” This stance of loyalist leaders, who claim to be close to the companies despite what they have just put them through, is all the more surprising when one understands, for example, how SAS companies operate, where the principle of a blocking minority exists . This allows one or more minority partners or shareholders to prevent a decision from being made through their vote in order to avoid being disadvantaged.

Furthermore, it is surprising to see the reaction of Ms. Backès, who was once in charge of the State Secretariat for Citizenship, especially since the Kanak people are simply respecting Article 2 of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which states that the aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

It is also astonishing to invoke the law and democracy when we know that the French state does not respect UN international law, which prohibits disrupting the demographics of a non-self-governing territory. France continues to do this in order to preserve the indigenous people and their minority independence movement. Yet, let us remember once again, it was the French state that led the Kanak people to choose this path in the 1970s. They simply wished to regain the autonomy granted in the 1950s and arbitrarily revoked in the 1960s. It is also worth recalling that this fear of the state regarding this supposed independence is unfounded , given that many French overseas territories with a majority of their indigenous populations do not seek independence, or even implement it. The non-French case of Greenland is a prime example.

The Minister for Overseas Territories’ constant and incessant reminders that the Bougival process was negotiated by 5 out of 6 political forces (see the draft constitutional law on New Caledonia: “It’s Bougival or nothing,” as Naïma Moutchou reminds us ) confirm the demographic policy aimed at making the Kanak people a minority and, moreover, constitutes an insult to the memory of the Caledonians, given that there were fewer participants in the Nainville-les-Roches agreements (4). The massive influx of Pied-Noirs from the Maghreb, particularly after Algerian independence, and of Wallisians and Futunans for economic reasons—who are now more numerous in New Caledonia than on their own island of Wallis and Futuna, and who have formed political parties—while not conducive to improving the current negotiations, nevertheless suits the State. If a new agreement and unfreezing of the electoral body were to be validated, it is not difficult to guess that in 30 or 40 years, new political formations will emerge, such as, why not, a party from Réunion, for example.

The association deplores the fact that the State, through its Minister for Overseas Territories, of Moroccan origin, is reproducing a practice already used during the wars of decolonization, namely using people from these colonies to coerce opponents in other colonies as was the case with the sending of Maghreb colonial soldiers during the Vietnam conflict (Indochina).

In conclusion, while the Socialist deputies have indicated their intention not to vote for the Bougival-Elysée-Oudinot bill when it reaches the National Assembly at the end of March, their abstentions this week, rather than a vote against it during its examination in the Senate, raise questions (see Kanaky: the colonial constitutional reform passed in the Senate with the tacit support of the Socialist Party ).The association fears that the FLNKS will once again be disillusioned by the Socialists, as it was in the 1980s , because, despite their humanitarianism, no Socialist will want to accept the separation of one of their territories from the rest of France.

Perhaps they will be able to continue or even finalize the federal process initiated by Michel Rocard in 1988, which we are requesting through our association’s project and which we believe is situated right in the middle of all the demands of the various parties.

Wishing you a pleasant read and reminding you that federalism is the only solution to reconcile unity in diversity.

The APROFED association