The State persists and signs

Hello everyone,

The APROFED association is contacting you again this week following the rejection of the Bougival text by the National Assembly without even having studied it and the new proposals made by the French government in order to move forward on the Caledonian issue (see Constitutional reform on New Caledonia: MPs reject the text without even studying it – Libération ).

Three scenarios have thus been put on the table (see What scenarios are possible after the rejection of the constitutional reform project? | Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes ):

– a thawing of the electoral roll without an agreement

– a direct consultation of the Caledonians on the Bougival text,

– or holding provincial elections with the electoral roll frozen.

The association is surprised that the State could have proposed the first 2 scenarios given the opposition of the separatists to them and the risk of further unrest, particularly as the anniversary of the start of the May 2024 uprising approaches.

Therefore, the State has decided on a fourth ^option : partially unfreezing the electoral roll for “native Caledonians” through an organic law, rather than a constitutional amendment as suggested by the non-independence Caledonian senator, Georges Naturel, in 2025—a proposal already rejected at the time by the entire local political class. The pro-independence parties reiterated that they would not oppose this opening, but only within the framework of a comprehensive agreement—in other words, a quid pro quo.

It is worth recalling here that the integration of new people into the electoral body, although deemed necessary by loyalists, is contrary to international law and the rules set by the UN, which stipulate that in the context of non-self-governing territories in the process of decolonization, the administering power must not influence the demographic component, particularly through mass immigration into the territory in order to make the local populations a minority.

By even partially unfreezing the Caledonian electorate, this is what the State is preparing to do again.

The association is astonished that among those the State intends to integrate are nearly 4,000 natives known as customary law subjects, in other words, Kanaks. In our view, these individuals should be automatically registered. The State counters that it is up to citizens to take the necessary steps to be able to vote. This appears to be yet another unsubtle maneuver by the State to restrict the right to vote to Kanaks in order to integrate other communities at the same time, should they request it.

The association is beginning to wonder whether this desire of the State to once again use force rather than to resume dialogue is not aimed at triggering new unrest in order to potentially establish a new state of emergency and thus postpone the provincial elections again until 2027 in order to pass the matter on to the next government after the presidential elections.

^{The association is also surprised by the remarks made during the Prime} Minister ‘s address (see “The status quo is not a destiny”: Sébastien Lecornu calls for “moving forward” to preserve the “path of shared destiny” in New Caledonia ) on May 8th, in which he announced that Caledonians would be consulted by referendum on numerous issues concerning them, but not on their institutional future. Indeed, the solution of holding a citizens’ assembly or convention to determine the paths to take for their future has thus far been monopolized, if not hijacked, by political representatives who, in two years, have still not found any solutions.

How could they, when the Minister for Overseas Territories herself declares that the Kanaky agreement, proposed by the pro-independence movement, amounts to independence and that the French state therefore opposes it ? While France has been present in New Caledonia for 173 years, it is worth remembering that it took less than 10 years to grant the United Kingdom its “independence” from the EU with Brexit.

How can we not also see that this State is being disloyal, when it plans to allow the settlement of new arrivals in New Caledonia while at the same time restricting the arrival of people in Mayotte (see Mayotte: a new restriction of birthright citizenship voted by Parliament ).

Thus, the association believes that for the 50 years of singer Renaud ‘s career , his song “Hexagone” released in 1975, which you can find at the following link: Renaud – Hexagone (Official Audio) – YouTube , is still very much relevant unfortunately.

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

L’association APROFED