New Caledonia: FLNC advocates “appeasement” and withdrawal of constitutional bill

Separatists condemned the violence that has erupted in New Caledonia since Monday and called for “pacification” while condemning the National Assembly’s vote on a constitutional bill to unfreeze the electoral body.

Speaking in a press release about the “abuses” that it “regrets and wishes to condemn,” the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (KSLFN) expressed its “desire to withdraw” the government text “in order to preserve the conditions for obtaining a global political agreement between officials of the New Caledonia and the French state.

“The FLNC condemns the vote on the constitutional bill,” he reiterated. However, “without the goal of starving and exacerbating the already difficult socio-economic situation of families,” the independence movement called for “the removal of roadblocks to ensure free access of the population to products, basic services and needs. »

“Do not succumb to the provocations of law and the state”

Jacques Lallier, the pro-independence president of the Loyalty Islands provincial assembly, one of three that make up the South Pacific overseas territory, also said he was disappointed “that the Kanak voice was not heard” by MPs.

And also to call for “discernment and appeasement,” asking those responsible for the violence rocking the archipelago “not to succumb to the provocations of the right and the state.”

President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday proposed that separatists and loyalists agree on institutional reform in New Caledonia, otherwise the disputed constitutional amendment voted on in parliament will be presented to Congress by the end of June for final adoption.

The constitutional bill aims to expand the electorate during provincial elections, which are crucial for the archipelago. Proponents of independence believe that this thaw risks “further minorityizing the indigenous Kanak people.”