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New opinion on the “territorial federalization” project supported by the loyalists
Hello everyone,
This weekend, the APROFED association is getting back to you following the meeting organized by the loyalists at the house of New Caledonia, in Paris, in order to promote their project of “territorial federalization” (see Institutional future of New Caledonia: in Paris, the non-independence supporters ready to defend the federalization of the Rock )
As we already mentioned in December 2024, this project does not fall entirely within the scope of federalism (see “Territorial federation”, a divisive notion – APROFED ).
The association is also surprised by the about-turn of the New Caledonian MP Nicolas Metzdorf, who today defends a project strengthening the provinces while in 2022 he advocated the abolition of these same provinces in favor of territories and municipalities and considered the local assembly project as a partition project that does not say its name like hyper-provincialization. The latter, defended by the New Caledonian Republicans and certain figures of the Rally, was not the path advocated by Générations NC. “For us, it is an admission of failure: they say ‘Blacks and Whites, pro-independence and non-pro-independence, we cannot live together’. But in 30 years, what will that mean? What is the goal…?” Nicolas Metzdorf then wondered (see Générations NC wants to abolish the provinces – DNC.NC ).
The association reminds us that federalism is not built alone but together, by incorporating everyone’s ideas, even if they are different. However, the loyalists’ federation project does not integrate any proposals from the pro-independence camp , and worse, remains deaf to their arguments. The example of a return to the Matignon-Oudinot agreements desired by the loyalists is thus at the extreme opposite of the will of the pro-independence supporters, who have clearly indicated that the Nouméa agreement constitutes a minimum threshold that cannot be questioned. However, on the pro-independence side, the arguments relating to federalism are listened to , as Sonia Backès mentions in an interview (see Sonia Backès: “We want to live together, but not in the same way” – DNC.NC ). A pro-independence party has even apparently said that it is necessary to take things from the federalism desired by the non-independence supporters.
This internal federalism project is all the more surprising coming from Ms. Backès since, according to Pierre Bretegner, she recently defended her external federalism project in veiled terms – the terms “integrated country” replacing those of federated state. (cf. New Caledonia after 3 referendums, 2024, 155p). This is certainly to differentiate herself from Philippe Gomes and his Calédonie ensemble party, which has recently taken up Mr. Bretegner’s idea of a dual federalism, both internal and external. Thus, as the president of the New Caledonia congress pointed out, some time after her inauguration, the real problem is not the project but the egos of each party.
Thus, in response to the call by the independence supporters to define a date for independence, the association proposes 2053 , the date of the bicentenary of the taking of possession of New Caledonia, which will become the date of freedom for the Kanak people if they wish through a new self-determination referendum. During this 30-year period, the association advocates the finalization of federalism by the French State in New Caledonia, through shared sovereignty , with the acquisition of legislative sovereignty allowing Caledonians to adopt laws in their areas of competence without having to refer to the State and be controlled by it. The State retains only the sovereign powers of currency, nationality, defense and diplomacy. This is also what all the overseas communities are demanding.
For further details on our project, we invite you to consult our website under the following heading: with France – APROFED
We wish you a good read and remind you that federalism is the only solution to reconcile unity in diversity.
The APROFED association