For several months, Kanaky New Caledonia has experienced major demonstrations because the State has chosen to no longer be neutral in the country’s decolonization process. He took the side of the anti-independentists by choosing to betray the Nouméa Accord. He wants to change the rules of the two ballots which directly concern Kanaky New Caledonia: the provincial elections which designate the provincial executives and the elected representatives of the Congress who then choose a government, the consultations on the return to independence. Paris wants to reduce the length of residence to vote in these elections to 10 years. The consequence is to reduce the share of the indigenous Kanak people in this electoral list, with the possibility that the Kanaks will be in the minority. The vote on this text in the French National Assembly triggered riots, 7 people died.
The PCR organized an exchange on this topical issue. In addition to activists from different PCR sections and citizens who are interested in this subject, Julie Pontalba, president of the Réunionese Movement for Peace and Georges Gauvin, president of the Chagos La Reunion Solidarity Committee were also present.

1971: objective to make the Kanaks a minority in their country

Ary Yée-Chong-Tchi-Kan, PCR candidate for the Europeans elections, returned to one of the causes of the problem. This was the will of Paris expressed in 1971 by Pierre Messmer, then Minister of the French Overseas Territories. He considered that the country was the last in the world where Westerners could emigrate in order to silence any demands: “nationalist demands will only be avoided if communities not originally from the Pacific represent a majority demographic mass." 20 years later, the Kanaks were a minority in their country.
The creation of the specific electoral list results from the internationalization of the struggle. The Kanaks worked to re-register Kanaky New Caledonia on the UN list of territories to be decolonized, recalled a speaker, a young Reunion Islander who lived in Oceania. It was therefore under the watchful eye of the UN that the discussions leading to the creation of a specific electoral list for the provincial elections and the consultations on the status took place, in order to correct the migration policy of Paris.

Immigrants from Reunion Island in Kanaky New Caledonia

During this exchange, the subject of Caledonians originating from Reunion Island was discussed. They come from two migratory waves. The first dates back to the 19th century during the colonization of the country, while the second is much more recent. Ary Yée-Chong-Tchi-Kan recalls that when Reunionese settlers were expelled from Sakay in Madagascar, some preferred to emigrate to Kanaky New Caledonia or Guyana rather than return to the country.
Among these people from Reunion Island, some campaign for independence, others against it.
The social situation was also mentioned. 70% of Kanaks are below the poverty line, and the latest Amnesty International report highlights the under-representation of indigenous people in decision-making spheres, in executives and in the economy while the Matignon and Nouméa agreements were to rebalance the situation between the indigenous people and the immigrant populations of Europe. 30 years later, this rebalancing is still far away, which explains why the Kanaks and some of the immigrants want to change the structure of society by returning to independence in order to be the decision-makers of everything that concerns them.

Separatism to make Nouméa a new Mayotte?

Among the perspectives, the fear of neo-colonial separatism was mentioned. During the independence of the Comoros, Paris maintained its administration in Mayotte, because the French government of the time needed a beachhead to support apartheid in South Africa, destabilize the young Comorian state and justify its military presence at the entrance to the Mozambique Channel.
A repeat of the Comorian adventure is a possibility. The government has clearly taken the anti-independence side and “New Caledonia” is cited by Paris as an essential pawn in its Indo-Pacific axis intended to counter China.
Separatism could be encouraged so that Paris continues to occupy the province of Nouméa when Kanaky New Caledonia becomes independent again.

The world has changed, Paris under UN surveillance

But will what Paris was able to do in 1975 be possible in 2024? The balance of power in the world has changed. Europe and the United States are in decline compared to the great powers which are returning to the place they occupied before being colonized by Westerners. BRICS brings together the main economies of the world except the West and has expanded. The Baku Initiative Group is an illustration of this changing world. He rassset of independence parties from Corsica, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique and Kanaky New Caledonia. He recently intervened to denounce the repression against the Kanaks.
More than ever, the situation in the country is being closely scrutinized by the UN and it seems difficult to imagine that a majority of Caledonians will accept the partition of their country.
The internationalization of the struggle allowed the people of Kanaky New Caledonia to begin to build a Caledonian nationality with the specific electoral list. This body links all the components of this people for a common destiny. But the government has called this peace into question and is fully responsible for the riots and their consequences. It is therefore important for Paris to achieve a first: successful decolonization through diplomacy.

M.M.