BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 14. The crisis in New Caledonia is a result of the actions taken by French President Emmanuel Macron, reads the article by Jean-Michel Brun, the chief editor of the Paris-based online newspaper La Gazette du Caucase, TurkicWorld reports.
"New Caledonia, like French Polynesia, is on the UN's list of countries to be decolonized. The 1998 Nouméa Accords set the archipelago on a gradual path towards independence. President Emmanuel Macron, influenced by descendants of former French settlers, has tried three times to halt the decolonization process through referendums," the article says.
The author notes that the French government aims to turn the Kanak people into a minority to prevent any move towards independence. "This was a red line that should not have been crossed".
"Fifteen days later, a freeze law proposed by Gabriel Attal's government was passed by the National Assembly. This decision ignited fierce riots in the French territory in the South Pacific starting on May 13, the worst since the political crisis of the 1980s. Instead of calming the situation and returning to negotiations, the Prime Minister and the Interior Minister sent in metropolitan police and army troops. They even supported armed descendants of former French settlers, who had organized into self-defense groups. The riots resulted in nine deaths, hundreds of injuries, and damage estimated at one billion euros. In just a few days, 25 years of negotiations were undone, pushing New Caledonia to a point of no return. Emmanuel Macron now faces the crisis he helped ignite," writes Jean-Michel Brun.
The author emphasizes that, right now, predicting the future of New Caledonia is risky.
"It's still unclear what will happen after the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 30 and July 7. The chaos caused by the dissolution of the National Assembly has led to recurring upheavals, such as the creation of a new 'people's front' uniting leftist parties and the disintegration of the right. If the National Assembly gains an absolute majority, it might support the independence movement and continue the policy initiated before the dissolution. However, if there is only a relative majority and the left gains strength, the country will be nearly ungovernable, and the future of New Caledonia will be uncertain, unless the independence supporters decide to bypass the metropolitan government's opinion," Jean-Michel Brun concluded.
