25 years after the Noumea Accord
Twenty-five years ago, the French government joined supporters and opponents of independence in New Caledonia to adopt the Noumea Accord – a political agreement that mapped out a transition towards a new political status for the French Pacific dependency.
The agreement was signed on 5 May 1998 by representatives of the French state, the independence movement Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) and the Rassemblement pour la Calédonie dans la République (an anti-independence party now divided into several smaller loyalist groups).
The Noumea Accord created new political institutions, including three provincial Assemblies, a Congress, a Customary Senate for the indigenous Kanak people and a multi-party government. The framework agreement, now entrenched in the French Constitution, also involved significant measures of economic and social rebalancing, to address decades of disadvantage in rural and regional areas where the population is majority Kanak.
Crucially, it delayed decisions on New Caledonia’s final political status until the end of a 25-year transition. This decolonisation process culminated in three referendums between 2018-2021, where a majority of voters said ‘No’ to independence. But the third vote was controversial. Most independence supporters stayed away from the polls, the FLNKS and its allies cried foul, and the country remains divided. A rupture of dialogue with the French government has only just been bridged, with bilateral talks in Paris in mid-April.
So what’s been achieved in 25 years, and what comes next?
Lessons from the Noumea Accord
Roch Wamytan, President of New Caledonia’s Congress, argues there have been many advances under the Noumea Accord: “After 25-30 years, we are managing our political institutions in an effective way. If New Caledonia were to be independent tomorrow, the political leadership is already there.”
The long-time independence leader notes however that “there are also many negatives after 25 years. Kanak culture and identity is not fully integrated into our institutions and many sectors of society. The voices of our chiefs and the councils of our customary regions are not sufficiently taken into account.”
In the aftermath of the 2020-21 COVID pandemic, many New Caledonians are facing tough times amidst rising cost of living. The closure last month of the only daily newspaper Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes highlights current commercial (and political) pressures. But the country’s key resource – nickel ore – remains a crucial asset, and the last decade has seen expanded sales for ore and nickel metal, with new markets in China and Korea.
Roch Wamytan highlights the central economic role of three nickel smelters across the country, run by Koniambo SAS, Prony Resources and Société le Nickel (SLN): “There is progress in the economic sphere, with more Kanak involved in different economic sectors – especially in the three nickel smelters in the north, south and in Noumea. Not enough, for sure, but better than it was.”
Alcide Ponga is the acting president of the anti-independence party Rassemblement-Les Républicains, and Mayor of Kouaoua in New Caledonia’s Northern province. As director of external affairs with Koniambo SAS, he says, “the question of nickel has to be at the heart of economic discussion.
“When the nickel industry goes well, New Caledonia goes well,” Ponga told Islands Business. “But we all know that the nickel industry is in trouble. The issue is not the number of smelters, but whether they are profitable.”
With fluctuating prices on international markets, the soaring cost of energy and high labour costs, New Caledonia’s nickel industry faces stiff competition from countries like Indonesia. SLN’s ageing Doniambo smelter in Noumea is in significant financial stress, reliant on loans from Paris but still needing new funding for maintenance and upgrades.
“The situation of SLN is complicated, as there are questions of productivity and staffing levels,” Ponga said. “But the big problem is the cost of energy and the call from the market for renewable energy production. We can’t keep using coal to generate electricity because the market will eventually say that our nickel is dirty. We’ve been living in an economic bubble, and the bubble may be about to burst.”
Economic reform
Another key feature of the Noumea Accord was the creation of new opportunities for young New Caledonians to access skills, training and education.
Leaders like Roch Wamytan celebrate the progress since 1998 – even though many young Kanak are still disadvantaged in the education system, despite reforms in curriculum and staffing.
“In the past 25 years, we’ve been able to train a number of young technicians, engineers, even a couple of doctors,” he said. “But this is a nowhere near enough, as we have a serious lack of local doctors. There’s also a problem that some training programs are also open to the ‘metro’ children of French officials, rather than just New Caledonian citizens. So, there’s been progress, but when we follow the French curriculum, it affects us negatively.”
Under President Louis Mapou, the Government of New Caledonia is looking to open up education and training opportunities in neighbouring countries, rather than France.
“When President Mapou and I were in Suva last July for the Pacific Islands Forum, we were very interested in our visit to the medical school in Fiji,” Wamytan said. “We would like to explore the possibility for New Caledonian students to study there, as Fiji is just next door.”
The Mapou government has started to undertake difficult structural changes that previous governments were never willing to take on, especially around fiscal reform. The 54-member Congress currently has an “islander majority”, uniting 26 independence supporters and three members of the Wallisian party Eveil océanien (EO). This alliance passed an annual budget in March, and has begun the fraught process of trying to reform debt-ridden public funds, like the RUAMM health insurance program.
Congress President Wamytan said: “All the anti-independence politicians, they have friends in the business community to look after – we don’t have that, so we can act. We have resources here, but it takes some political courage to make the necessary reforms. We can’t just keep asking for money from France.”
Regional outreach
At a time of geopolitical contest between the United States and China, with President Macron promoting France as a “balancing force” in the Indo-Pacific region, New Caledonia is increasingly entangled in regional tensions.
Attending his first Forum leaders meeting in Suva last year, President Louis Mapou told Islands Business: “There is no doubt that France needs New Caledonia and French Polynesia for its Indo-Pacific strategy, facing other major powers in the region. But this is not our project – we want to integrate with our neighbours in the Pacific region.”
This month, Mapou again reiterated his focus on working with neighbouring countries: “On the Indo-Pacific, I don’t know about ‘Indo’, I’m focussed on the Pacific. I’m preoccupied with our integration within the Pacific region, which has been delayed for far too long.”
Independence leaders are fanning out to seek international support from the United Nations, the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and the Pacific Islands Forum. As Congress President, Roch Wamytan has travelled widely in the region, signing MOUs between New Caledonia’s legislature and MSG parliaments.
Magalie Tingal-Leme has lobbied as the FLNKS representative at the United Nations, seeking diplomatic support for a sovereign and independent Kanaky-New Caledonia.
“I’m really following in the footsteps of our past FLNKS leaders, who campaigned for the re- inscription of New Caledonia on the UN list of non-self-governing territories,” she said. “However, this network of support needs to be refreshed and updated. The world has changed and it’s vital for the FLNKS to be heard more and more on the international stage. The solidarity shown to the Kanak people in the 1980s is still evident across the region – we just need to fan the embers into flame.”
There is also significant support for the Kanak people amongst church and civil society networks across the Pacific. The Congress of New Caledonia signed a co-operation agreement with the Pacific Theological College (PTC) in July last year, and the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) will hold its 12th General Assembly in New Caledonia next November.
PCC general secretary Reverend James Bhagwan said: “It is significant for us, because the first PCC General Assembly in 1966 took place in Lifou in the Loyalty Islands in Kanaky. Given the challenge that our sisters and brothers have faced, particularly on the third referendum, it’s an important opportunity for us to come as a faith community, to actually listen to the local community and churches in Kanaky.”
Contested vote
For supporters of independence, there’s ongoing anger about the conduct of the French government, after it pushed through the third referendum on self-determination in December 2021.
The first two referendums under the Noumea Accord saw minority but growing support for independence: 43.3% in November 2018 and 46.7% in October 2020. Then Paris decided to rush the third vote mid-pandemic in December 2021, rather than late 2022 after France’s presidential elections. Tens of thousands of independence supporters, mainly indigenous Kanak, opted for “non-participation”, and turnout halved compared to 2020. Only 3.5% of people said ‘Yes’ to independence.
Anti-independence leaders say these three votes have ended the Noumea Accord, and France’s highest administrative court, the Conseil d’Etat, has validated the third referendum result under French law. Despite this, the final vote remains contentious on the international stage – United Nations principles of decolonisation require that the colonised Kanak people must participate in any valid process.
From her work in New York, FLNKS representative Magalie Tingal-Leme said that “on the political level, the problem of credibility is obvious. The fact that 57% of the population did not participate in the third referendum shows that there is a lack of credibility in the process.”
“The result may have been recognised within French jurisprudence, but we’ve clearly told the French State that this is not accepted by the FLNKS,” she said. “There was a steady progression of the ‘Yes’ vote in the first two referendums. The French State may accept the outcome of the third vote, but we will never accept this. Our independence was stolen.”
Talks in Paris
To bridge this divide, three separate delegations travelled to Paris in mid-April, to hold bilateral discussions with French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne and Minister of Interior and Overseas, Gérald Darmanin. Alongside the FLNKS delegation led by Roch Wamytan, there were two groups of anti-independence parties: one from Calédonie ensemble led by Philippe Gomès; another from the Loyalist bloc led by Sonia Backès (who serves as President of New Caledonia’s Southern province but also Minister for Citizenship in the French government in Paris).
The delegations met separately with Prime Minister Borne and her ministers, rather than start trilateral negotiations. Despite the positive dialogue, it’s clear there are still fundamental differences over the way forward, before people agree on a new political status.
Pierre-Chanel Tutugoro, secretary general of the largest independence party, Union Calédonienne, says the FLNKS delegation sought government agreement for a new treaty, to map out a clear timetable for a transition to an independent and sovereign state.
“Our proposed treaty highlights issues related to interdependence with the French State, during a period of transition after independence,” he said. “This will ensure there is no rupture with France. We’re following in the footsteps set by our forebears, seeking independence with full sovereignty, but with ongoing, albeit different, ties with France.”
In contrast, the French government has proposed a timetable to develop a new political status within the French Republic.
After the Paris talks, Overseas Minister Darmanin will make another visit to Noumea in late May, followed by a visit by President Macron – possibly in July – hoping to finalise an agreement by September. For the French government, this would open the way for reform of the French Constitution in early 2024 (The Noumea Accord is effectively embedded in its own section of the constitution, and key provisions can only be changed by referendum or a 3/5 vote in a joint meeting of both the French National Assembly and Senate.)
Before leaving for Paris, Roch Wamytan told Islands Business that the FLNKS would not be rushed into a decision.
“We don’t accept their timetable,” he said. “If we need to keep talking for another year, well, then let’s keep talking for another year. They can’t just impose whatever they like on us. To introduce a new statute, political parties in France will only support the change if it’s preceded by a political agreement here in New Caledonia. We’re happy to talk to them, but to talk seriously.”
Coming out of the Paris talks, Loyalist politician Sonia Backès criticised the refusal of the independence movement to begin trilateral discussions: “We have reached the end of the bilateral process, we must now manage to talk to each other, as people who live in New Caledonia. We cannot continue to leave it to the French State to act as the interlocutor between us.”
In Paris, anti-independence leaders reaffirmed their call for New Caledonia to remain within the French Republic. They also called on the Borne government to make significant legal changes to the electorate for the next provincial and Congressional elections in May 2024. They want changes to the electoral rolls, which should be “open to all those who have decided to settle permanently in New Caledonia.”
Currently, only long-term New Caledonian citizens who meet lengthy residency requirements can participate in elections for the local assemblies and Congress. To fully open up the electoral body would allow more than 40,000 extra French nationals to vote in next May’s election – something that is fiercely resisted by the independence movement.
Talking to political leaders across the spectrum in Noumea last month, you can’t miss the difference of opinion on this crucial question.
Roch Wamytan told me: “We’re happy to receive people from France or from other countries who want to work here and contribute – but for them to want to determine the future of the country, it’s not on! The Loyalist parties don’t understand this, or they don’t want to understand. They don’t want to address the principles of the United Nations for non-self-governing territories.”
UC’s Pierre-Chanel Tutugoro agreed: “The French State has opened discussions on the electoral rolls, but we don’t see this as a legal issue. It’s a political question. They say we can’t forge a new political status with a fixed electorate – we have the opposite opinion.”
Alcide Ponga, leader of the anti-independence Rassemblement party, acknowledged that “opinion about the electoral rolls is quite divided, but it’s an issue where we need a compromise. Each side must put some water in its wine so we can move forward on this issue.”
For Ponga, leaders must better define the rights and responsibilities of citizens: “We can’t just talk about the electoral rolls. Whether it’s in Paris or here in Noumea, we have to discuss the meaning of New Caledonian citizenship and what it entails.”
Next steps
While the recent talks in Paris have re-opened dialogue between the independence movement and the French State, there is still a long way to go before any decision on a new political status. The clock is ticking, but FLNKS leaders will now hold internal discussions to determine next steps.
All parties are well aware of the current chaos in France, with massive union and community protests against changes to the retirement age and pensions. Emmanuel Macron is weakened, his reputation plummeting in opinion polls. In March, the French President only survived a censure motion by just 9 votes in the 577-member National Assembly.
Despite this crisis, Overseas Minister Darmanin and his delegate Jean-François Carenco will again fly to Noumea in late May.
It seems key FLNKS leaders are tired of reiterating their long-standing objective: the completion of the decolonisation process, leading to an independent and sovereign state. Pierre-Chanel Tutugoro told me: “Last year, when I met with Darmanin and Carenco, I said to them that we’re tired of having the same conversations with you. It seems like we’re just repeating, repeating, repeating the same message. It’s tiring and eventually it might create the mood that it’s time for a rupture with France.”
“Our old people are leaving us with their hopes for independence dashed, even to their last breath,” he said. “It’s not good that our elders are leaving us, with the dreams unfulfilled. It’s not good.”
