New Caledonia’s controversial constitutional reform will not go ahead: French PM

New Caledonia’s controversial constitutional reform, which triggered violent unrest after a vote in the French National Assembly, will not go ahead, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier says.

Delivering his inaugural speech on his government’s roadmap, Barnier said the controversial text, which had already been endorsed by both Houses of Parliament, the Senate (in March 2024) and the National Assembly (in May 2024) “will not be submitted to the Congress”.

The Congress (a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament) was necessary before the constitutional reform on New Caledonia’s electoral roll for provincial elections could become valid.

The amendment intended to modify the conditions of eligibility for voters at New Caledonia’s local elections.

It was supposed to “unfreeze” the electoral roll in its current form, which only allows people born in New Caledonia or residing there before 1998 to cast their votes.

The change would have relaxed those restrictions, to allow citizens residing there for ten uninterrupted years to also cast their votes, thus introducing an additional estimated 25,000 voters.

These changes were perceived as the main trigger of pro-independence parties, which said this was a way of diluting the indigenous Kanak votes.

After a series of initially peaceful protests, violent riots and unrest broke out in New Caledonia, hours after the latest Parliament vote in May.

French President Emmanuel Macron later said due to the French snap election the text would be “suspended”, but not withdrawn altogether.

Since then, New Caledonia’s pro-independence parties had been consistently demanding clarifications from Macron, to confirm whether or not that the controversial text would not be tabled once again.

During his inaugural speech, Barnier also confirmed that the provincial elections, initially scheduled to take place in New Caledonia not later than mid-December 2024, will be postponed until late 2025.

“I am in a position to announce, in agreement with the President of the Republic, the decision to postpone provincial elections until the end of 2025”, he told MPs.

‘Concertation and dialogue’ mission setup

Another announcement in his speech was that a “concertation and dialogue” mission, made up of French MPs from the National Assembly and the Senate, as well as high officials from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Overseas, will travel to New Caledonia “soon”.

Barnier said those developments will be confirmed when Macron hosts New Caledonia’s political stakeholders in Paris “during the month of November”.

The intention was to kick-start long-stalled political dialogue in the French Pacific archipelago, including both pro-independence and pro-France parties, with a view to find a successor political agreement to the 26-year-old Nouméa Accord (signed in 1998).

The full restoration of law and order in New Caledonia had been singled out several times (including by Macron) as the precondition to a return to the negotiating table.

“A new chapter must now be opened and dedicated to (New Caledonia’s) economic and social reconstruction, in the respect of the Caledonian people’s diversity and of democratic principles,” Barnier told Parliament.

“I will personally employ myself to this”.

The Nouméa Accord paved the way for a gradual transfer of powers to local New Caledonia authorities, as well as an increasingly larger autonomy.

Since last week, a bipartisan delegation from New Caledonia’s local Parliament, the Congress, has been in Paris to meet several key ministers (including the new Overseas Minister, François-Noël Buffet).

The aim of the Pacific delegation was to alert French MPs and ministers of the very high urgency of the situation, especially on the economic and social levels, as well as advocate for a five-year recovery and reconstruction plan for New Caledonia – to the tune of €4.1 billion, to be financed by Paris.

This was in light of huge damage caused by over four months of riots, arson, looting, destruction of over 800 businesses, the loss of over 20,000 jobs, and a total financial cost estimated at €2.2b.

Meanwhile, in order to keep New Caledonia’s economy afloat, the French government has, since May, injected about €400 million.