Macron says French troops will stay in New Caledonia “as long as necessary” | Political news

The French president is visiting the Pacific territory, where electoral reform plans have fueled the worst unrest in more than 30 years.

French President Emmanuel Macron said French soldiers would stay in New Caledonia “as long as necessary” after more than a week of unrest sparked by France’s plan to change electoral rules in the Pacific island territory.

Macron arrived in Nouméa, the capital of New Caledonia, on Thursday amid continuing protests over electoral reforms that indigenous Kanak people say would dilute their vote and undermine their fight for independence.

The reforms would allow French people residing in New Caledonia for 10 years or more to vote in New Caledonia’s provincial elections.

About 3,000 soldiers have been sent from Paris since the violence began and could remain there until the Paris Olympics, which begin July 26, Macron said.

Six people, including three young Kanaks, have been killed and around 280 people arrested since the start of the protests and the declaration of a state of emergency.

Macron observed a minute of silence for those killed and said that if roadblocks and barricades were removed, he would oppose extending the state of emergency.

The French president also met on Thursday the pro-independence president of the government of New Caledonia Louis Mapou and the president of Congress Roch Wamytan, during a meeting at the residence of the French high commissioner in New Caledonia in Nouméa.

Macron traveled around 17,000 km (10,500 miles) from mainland France to reach Nouméa and was expected to stay in New Caledonia for around 12 hours.

Protesters waving Caledonian flags filled the streets as the French president’s convoy traveled along the recently reopened road linking the international airport to Nouméa.

“I don’t know why people who don’t even live here are discussing our fate,” said Mike, a 52-year-old Kanak, at a roadblock north of the capital on the eve of Macron’s arrival.

About 90 barricades erected by protesters were breached by heavily armed police and paramilitaries, but new barricades were still appearing the night before Macron’s arrival, according to the Reuters news agency.

Jimmy Naouna, of New Caledonia’s Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), said the pro-independence political party had called on protesters to lift roadblocks and urged Macron to abandon the electoral reform plan.

“We expect that if (Macron) goes to Kanaky, he will forcefully announce that he is withdrawing this electoral bill, but if he comes here just as a provocation, it could go wrong,” Naouna said in front of the French. the arrival of the president, using the indigenous name of the island.

Kanaks make up about 40 percent of the approximately 300,000 people who live in New Caledonia, located between Australia and Fiji in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1998, France agreed to cede more political power to the territory and limit the right to vote in New Caledonia’s provincial and legislative elections to only residents of the island at the time, as part of what it is called the Nouméa Accord.

Around 40,000 French citizens have moved to New Caledonia since 1998, and the changes expand the electoral rolls to include those who have lived in the territory for 10 years.

The Nouméa Accord also provided for a series of three independence referendums, the last of which took place in December 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Independence groups boycotted the vote in favor of remaining in France and rejected the result.

Last week, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told the France 2 television channel that Azerbaijan, alongside China and Russia, was “interfering” in New -Caledonia.

“I regret that certain Caledonian independence leaders have reached an agreement with Azerbaijan,” Darmanin said.