between diagnosis and warning, Édouard Philippe delivers his analysis of the situation in New Caledonia

While the President of the Republic is on an express trip to announce a dialogue mission, his former Prime Minister delivers his diagnosis of the situation and his recommendations.

Édouard Philippe’s warning. Emmanuel Macron is expected in New Caledonia on the evening of Wednesday May 22, in the company of senior officials, without a political figure and therefore without his former Prime Minister. In recent days, on the right and on the left, but also on site, many have asked for the return of Édouard Philippe to manage the file. The former Prime Minister was very involved in the subject when he was at Matignon. At a meeting on Tuesday evening in Bayonne, he did not hesitate to give his vision of the issue and to release his blows, discreetly.

Coded or even encrypted messages, Édouard Philippe’s style is known. This time, the allusions are much clearer. The former Prime Minister, the last head of government to really take up the New Caledonian issue, recounts his visit there two months ago: “First, the conviction that there was an extremely strong economic crisis which was not sufficiently understood in Paris. After the events, today, it is worse. And also as the tension increased, it exploded. And also that an agreement was still possible”says Édouard Philippe.

He plays the tune of “I told you so”, while at the beginning of May, with two other former Prime Ministers, Édouard Philippe called on Matignon to take up the file. Indeed, historically, Prime Ministers managed this difficult issue and above all “in the exercise of their functions, they refrained from taking sidesrecalls Édouard Philippe, because at the end of the 1988-1998 agreement, the State was party to the process, but had to place itself behind a veil of impartiality.”

The allusion is not blatant, but “this veil of impartiality”, the separatists have criticized the executive for having torn it apart over the last two years. They notably contest the arrival in government of a loyalist elected official, Sonia Backès, and recently the appointment of another loyalist, Nicolas Metzdorf, as rapporteur of the constitutional bill. This project was the spark that ignited the violence.

After this severe diagnosis, Édouard Philippe also provides recommendations. Here again, they differ from what the current government is proposing. For Édouard Philippe, the expansion of the electorate cannot be an end in itself. “We must therefore invent the next framework, the framework which will make it possible to determine what New Caledonia will become in the next 20, 30, 40, 50 years”, he believes. A framework that will be more difficult to find than three months ago, he still complains while ensuring that it can be found.

For this, it is therefore necessary “dialogue”again a distancing from Emmanuel Macron who threatens to convene Congress to adopt the constitutional revision at the end of June.

“What matters most is the political agreement. It is not the law which must adapt to the political agreement, it is not the balance of power which will or will not result from the “political agreement. It’s always the political agreement.”

Édouard Philippe, former Prime Minister

in meeting Tuesday May 21 in Bayonne

“All those who want to place themselves outside of this logic, in my opinion, will encounter bitter disappointments,” asserts the former Prime Minister. And to almost issue a warning: “I hope that the president’s announcements will be up to the situation.” Édouard Philippe, who will not be the mediator requested by the Insoumis, chooses direct words this time. While he always takes care not to differentiate himself too much from the head of state, this time he seems to assume responsibility for playing his own part.