the possibility of organizing a referendum is “a reading of the Constitution, not an intention”, assures Emmanuel Macron

The possibility of organizing a national referendum on the unfreezing of the electorate in New Caledonia arises from a simple “reading the Constitution” and is not “not an intention”, assured Emmanuel Macron on Sunday May 26 on the sidelines of a state visit to Germany. During a lightning visit to New Caledonia on Thursday, the president had already touched on the possibility of a referendum. And the Head of State returned to this point in an interview with Parisian appeared on Saturday, emphasizing that it could “go to the referendum at any time” on this contested reform which was the detonator of several days of riots on the archipelago.

“I just reminded you of what the Constitution was,” the head of state said on Sunday during a press conference alongside German President Franz-Walter Steinmeier. Because “once a constitutional reform is voted on in the same terms by both chambers”, namely the Senate and the Assembly, “at that time the president has the choice of submitting it to Congress”that is to say to the deputies and senators gathered at Versailles, or “in the referendum”.

The Head of State has repeated in recent weeks that he is giving priority to a global agreement between Caledonian elected officials on this thaw, which arouses strong opposition from separatists. This reform would in fact lead to people who have been living in the territory for at least 10 years being integrated into the electorate. The Kanaks fear that their influence will be diluted. In the meantime, the riots, which caused 7 deaths and colossal damage, have reshuffled the cards.