Non-independence Alcide Ponga was elected president of New Caledonia

After a first unsuccessful attempt this Tuesday, the eleven members of the Caledonian government gathered again this Wednesday for the election of their president and gathered six votes in favor of Ponga, from the “Le Rassemblement-Les Républicains” movement. His competitor Samuel Hnepeune obtained three of the five independence votes, the National Union for Independence, which has two seats, having chosen to abstain.

Alcide Ponga, 49, comes from a non-independence Kanak family. Mayor since 2014 of the small mining town of Kouaoua, on the east coast of the main island, since April 21 he has also been the first Kanak to chair Le Rassemblement-Les Républicains.

A political science graduate, he spent his career in mining, a sector that is currently in great difficulty but which remains the leading provider of private employment in the archipelago. He succeeds the independentist Louis Mapou, whose government was overthrown on December 24 with the departure of the center-right “Calédonie ensemble” party.

Government overthrown

The new government was elected Tuesday by the territory’s Deliberative Assembly, but failed to immediately agree on a name. Some of the separatists, including Caledonia together, then abstained despite the candidacy of Philippe Dunoyer, from their ranks.

He announced his resignation from the government, less than an hour after the election of an executive, due to divisions within the non-independence group.

More than seven months after violent riots, the archipelago was plunged into uncertainty on December 24 by the overthrow of the government in place for three years.

The members of the New Caledonian government are elected by a list vote. In the event of resignation, it is the next person on the resignation who takes the place of the person resigning. Only the resignation of the entire list causes the fall of the government. This is the scenario that occurred on December 24, with the departure from Caledonia together. The movement criticized the executive of Louis Mapou for its “lack of firmness” towards the State in the context of discussions for aid for the reconstruction of the territory.

Six months of tension

Its economy was brought down by the insurrection which began on May 13, after the adoption by the National Assembly in Paris of a very controversial reform of the Caledonian electoral body.

Located 17,000 kilometers from Paris, New Caledonia was ravaged in 2024 by six months of insurrectional tensions, against a backdrop of pro-independence protests by the electorate in the provincial elections, crucial for the territory. The unrest cost the lives of fourteen people and caused more than two billion euros in damage. The vote, which was to take place in 2024, must be held at the end of 2025.