After more than a week of deadly rioting that has left six people dead, Emmanuel Macron plans to meet with local leaders to find a way forward — but experts say the visit is unlikely to address the root causes of the unrest.
French President Emmanuel Macron is visiting New Caledonia after more than a week of deadly riots left six people dead.French President Emmanuel Macron has arrived in New Caledonia after more than a week of deadly civil unrest and violence.
The visit by the French president and some of his top officials is expected to focus on the clean-up effort in New Caledonia.It was seen as an attempt to torpedo the independence movement led by the territory's Indigenous Kanaks, who make up more than 40 per cent of the population. French soldiers were part of the 1,000 security reinforcements sent from France to New Caledonia to try and stop the violence."The political solution to this is for the negotiations to start again, but for that, there needs to be a secure and safe environment and peaceful environment, and for that, this electoral reform bill needs to be suspended or withdrawn."
"In any case, the FLNKS expects from this visit that the president of the republic will make an announcement falling under his sole responsibility which will provide a new lease of life with a view to resuming a peaceful and serene dialogue between the three political partners of the agreements," it said.New Caledonian political science researcher and historian Dr Ismet Kurtovitch said Mr Macron's visit was a surprise but not unprecedented.
The AFP news agency reported that Mr Macron was expected to spend about 12 hours on the ground after up-turning his programme for the rest of the week just ahead of June's European elections.One presidential advisor told AFP on condition of anonymity the trip amounted to "double or quits."Such was the last-minute nature of the voyage, a schedule for the president was being drawn up during the 24-hour flight, without knowing who would be willing to meet him.
"He may try to negotiate with both pro- and anti-independence leaders regarding the electoral reforms but at this stage, it doesn't seem like Macron intends to drop them."Experts and observers say the discord in New Caledonia has built amid a deepening economic divide and a prolonged stalemate over the future of its status as a French territory.
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