Four questions on the sensitive constitutional reform of New Caledonia, examined by the National Assembly

After being adopted by the Senate, this revision is examined Monday and Tuesday by the deputies. It aims to expand the electorate of the archipelago, but arouses numerous tensions between loyalists and separatists.

A decisive vote for New Caledonia. 17,000 kilometers from Nouméa, the National Assembly examines, Monday May 13, the constitutional reform aimed at expanding the electorate of the archipelago. After a favorable vote by the Senate in April, an identical adoption by the deputies is necessary to move forward this government project, which will be submitted to a solemn vote Tuesday afternoon in the Assembly hemicycle.

Since the announcement of this reform by Emmanuel Macron in July 2023, two camps have been opposing each other. That of the non-independenceists, in favor of reform, and that of the separatists, who on the contrary see it as a forceful move by the State to “further minimize the indigenous Kanak people”. In the archipelago, the text is a source of numerous tensions. For several weeks, several blockages and demonstrations have taken place to demand the withdrawal of the project. Opponents were arrested and placed in pre-trial detention. Franceinfo returns to the subject in four questions.

1 What does this constitutional reform provide?

Since the Nouméa Agreement of May 5, 1998, the electorate has been frozen in New Caledonia. The right to vote in provincial elections or referendums on the archipelago is reserved for people with New Caledonian citizenship under certain conditions. You must, for example, have resided in New Caledonia between 1988 and 1998 or be the child of a parent who has been in this situation to participate in the ballot, recalls Outre-mer La 1ère. These arrangements aim to maintain better representation of Kanaks, an indigenous people who are increasingly a minority in New Caledonia. As a result, nearly one in five voters is now deprived of the right to vote in the territory.

The constitutional reform therefore aims to unfreeze the electoral body, and to open the elections to residents who have lived in New Caledonia for at least ten years. “Everyone notes that the frozen electorate no longer conforms to the principles of democracy”, commented Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who has visited the archipelago multiple times in recent years. The government “takes responsibility” to change the situation, warned the minister, who pleads for adoption of the text without modification by the National Assembly, but left the door open to an institutional agreement found locally.

According to a Senate report (PDF document)this reform would increase the composition of the electoral body by 14.5%, adding 12,441 natives of New Caledonia, as well as 13,400 French citizens present continuously for at least ten years.

2 Why are the separatists opposed to it?

This constitutional reform comes in a context of strong tensions between supporters and opponents of the independence of the archipelago. Political leaders are struggling to agree on a new status for this territory, after the holding of three self-determination referendums where the “no” to independence emerged victorious, the “yes” camp having boycotted the last consultation of 2021.

Opposed to the electoral thaw, the separatists, uniteds within the Field Action Coordination Unit, believe that this text was decided to “unilateral way” by the government. Speaking to AFP, Dominique Fochi, secretary general of the Caledonian Union (independence party), denounced a “passage by force”, preventing a locally negotiated solution between loyalists and separatists from being found. They also consider that if the question of citizenship in New Caledonia is governed by the Constitution, the balance of power between the communities will be very difficult to change in the future.

Gold, “the electorate is the very essence of the innovative process of decolonization”defined by the Matignon agreements of 1988 and Nouméa (1998), denounced the Kanak independence senator Robert Xowie, to the World. “Today, the French government decides alone in the name of democracy who will be a Caledonian citizen, it is a brutal change of method”, he denounces. “If we lived in peace for forty years, it is because the electorate was stabilized.” added to New Caledonia The 1st Daniel Goa, president of the Caledonian Union.

This protest is exacerbated by a serious crisis in the nickel sector, to which the government is trying to respond with a recovery plan described as “colonial” by independence opponents, cites The world .

3 In the National Assembly, which parties support it and which oppose it?

During its examination in committee, the bill was adopted without incident with the support of the presidential camp, the right and the far right. “The economic situation does not allow us to wait any longer“, said MoDem MP for Seine-et-Marne Aude Luquet. “Do we negotiate the right to vote of someone born in the territory? No, that cannot be negotiated,” also argued Nicolas Metzdorf, Renaissance deputy of New Caledonia and rapporteur of the text.

On the other hand, left-wing deputies presented a series of amendments to oppose this constitutional revision as it stands. “In the absence of negotiation and consensus, the conditions are not met to modify the electoral body”, denounced the socialist Arthur Delaporte. It is “a new coup by the government, which undermines the conditions for a peaceful discussion on the institutional future of the territory”regretted the rebellious deputy Bastien Lachaud, who called on Gérald Darmanin to “dismiss the file” for the benefit of the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal. La France insoumise, like other groups, is pleading for the creation of a “impartial mission” associating the Senate and the Assembly to “facilitate negotiations”.

Before its examination in public session, the deputies opposed to the text tabled a motion to reject, which however has little chance of being adopted, recalls Politico.

4 What will happen if the text is adopted?

Adoption by the National Assembly would pave the way for a meeting of Parliament in Congress to reform the Constitution, but the date of this major parliamentary meeting in Versailles has not yet been set. The month of June was brought forward by several parliamentary sources to the AFP. Emmanuel Macron has already promised not to convene Congress “in the process” of the vote, to allow a last chance for discussions between local stakeholders with a view to a global institutional agreement.

During the examination of the text in the Senate, a mechanism was added to allow the suspension of this constitutional reform if a local agreement was reached up to ten days before the next provincial elections. The government had initially set a deadline of July 1, but this was seen as a “ultimatum” by the oppositions. The latter will soon be invited to Paris to “a meeting with the government”the president’s entourage informed AFP on Sunday.