France: After two weeks of violent unrest sparked by French plans to alter provincial election regulations, the state of emergency in the Pacific island territory of New Caledonia will be lifted on Tuesday morning.
As stated in a statement released by the Elysee Palace on Sunday night, the state of emergency that was declared on May 16 will end at 8 p.m. on Monday in Paris (18:00 GMT and 5 a.m. on Tuesday in Noumea). An additional 480 law enforcement officers will be sent to the area to supplement the 3,000 security guards who are currently on the ground.
As the French parliament got ready to debate constitutional amendments that would permit residents of New Caledonia who have lived there for ten years or more to cast ballots in provincial elections, violence broke out in the region, where Indigenous Kanaks make up roughly 40 percent of the population.
Opponents claimed the change would weaken the Noumea Accord, one of the two major political accords reached in the wake of the 1980s major violent breakout, and lessen Kanaks’ voting power.
Opponents claimed the change would weaken the Noumea Accord, one of the two major political accords reached in the wake of the 1980s major violent breakout, and lessen Kanaks’ voting power.
The most recent civil disturbance has resulted in the construction of barricades across important roadways, the looting and burning of business sites, and the deaths of at least seven persons.
Friday night, just after French President Emmanuel Macron visited the islands in an attempt to defuse the situation and subsequently pledged that the amendment would be rescinded, the seventh victim was shot and killed by police.
The statement also stated that Macron’s choice to not extend the state of emergency demonstrated Paris’s intention to begin the de-escalation process and restore the environment for communication.
In a statement released on Saturday, the major political coalition supporting independence, FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front), stated that reducing tensions was the top priority and that a “political and non-repressive” solution was the only workable one.
According to the French statement, eliminating the state of emergency was meant to enable FLNKS to convene, and it was also a “necessary condition for the opening of concrete and serious negotiations” to remove the obstacles.
Regarding the status of a nocturnal curfew enforced by municipal authorities in New Caledonia, nothing was announced.
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