THERE are calls for regional solidarity today as France continues to show a reluctance to loosen its colonial hold on New Caledonia.
In a joint statement ahead of elections planned for June, 21 non-government organizations have lent their voices to the freedom movement in the French territory.
Paris has confirmed that elections will take place at the end of June, but civil society groups are keeping a close watch on the situation.
“It is imperative to support the holding of the election by (June 28) at the latest in order to restore stable institutional legitimacy and bring an end to a dangerous period of democratic uncertainty,” the NGO statement said.
Some would say that this firm stance is justified, given the recent tendency of French authorities to repeatedly postpone polls.
Other worrying signs have also emerged like “contested agreements” which were negotiated with political entities whose mandate had already expired. The negotiations invariably happened without the presence of indigenous Kanak representatives.
The call for a return to a genuine democratic process did not happen in a vacuum. A lot of the blame could be laid squarely at the feet of the French authorities’ bullish approach to negotiations, while failing to take into account the delicate balance that needs to be maintained in New Caledonia. The 2024 uprisings were a direct response to that approach. The aftershocks are reflected in today’s statisticsa 13.5 per cent—recession, and a labor market that had the bottom fall out of it—with 11,500 losing their jobs. The resultant humanitarian crisis was therefore a forgone conclusion.
Ultimately, France is being called upon to re-engage constructively and without any sort of bias, letting go of all the colonial holdover attitudes of the past, embracing the true spirit of Ocean of Peace.
“France must understand that its credibility and its place in this region do not depend on its material strength, but on its ability to respect the history of this great Ocean by honoring its decolonization commitments before the sovereign and dignified nations of the Pacific,” the statement said.
