PRESS RELEASE FLNKS
BILATERAL MEETING WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC
Noumea, May 25th, 2024
At a time when Kanaky New Caledonia is reconnecting with the dark days of the 1980s, those of the “Events”, the FLNKS was astonished to learn of the hasty arrival of the President of the French Republic accompanied by the two ministers whom the people hold responsible for the failure of the outcome of the Nouméa Accord, as well as for the current “carnage” here in Kanaky New Caledonia.
Today, the main goal of the independence movement is to ease tensions and find lasting solutions for our country. Thus, in keeping with its culture of dialogue, the discussion team mandated by the 41st FLNKS Congress of Anse-Vata (Noumea), accompanied by the head of the Field Action Coordination Unit (CCAT), met with French President Emmanuel Macron on May 23, 2024 in Nouméa. Following a firm request from the FLNKS, this meeting was held in a bilateral format, excluding the presence of ministers Sébastien Lecornu and Gérald Darmanin, whose disastrous management of the Caledonian issue are, for the Front, totally disqualified.
During this meeting, the FLNKS made it known to the President of the French Republic, in a clear and frank manner, its unwavering determination to bring Kanaky New Caledonia to full sovereignty. the FLNKS also underlined the major responsibility of the French Government in the chaotic situation we are experiencing
today, but also the abandonment of impartiality and of the path of consensus by the French State to favor the method of a forceful passage in the interest of non-independence political forces. The pro-independence delegation also informed the Head of State of the ways and means which, according to the FLNKS, will allow us collectively to emerge from this crisis. The FLNKS also reminded the French head of state that the Field Action Coordination Unit (CCAT) has continually called for restraint while demonstrating firm opposition against the State's will to "impose by force" the "unfreezed" New Caledonia's electorate roll.
Consequently, the FLNKS affirmed that the only viable solution to this crisis could only come through a response of a political and non-repressive nature. To this end, the FLNKS has asked the President of the French Republic to make a strong announcement indicating the withdrawal of the draft constitutional law
and the creation of a high-level mediation mission made up of French, regional and international personalities in order to create all the conditions for a peaceful dialogue leading to a global political agreement.
Aware of the seriousness of the situation and the need for a political response, the President of the French Republic has proposed moving towards a “de-escalation process” in several stages. First of all, the Head of State first committed not to force the draft constitutional law and established the overall political agreement as the sole objective if, concomitantly, it is noted, on the one hand, a gradual lifting of the roadblocks which could justify a non-extension of the state of emergency and, on the other hand, the resumption of discussions around the mediation mission set up by him. The President of the French Republic then proposed to carry out a situation update in a month in order to be able to officially ratify the withdrawal of the constitutional law. Following this meeting with President Emmanuel Macron, the FLNKS wishes today to make a number of things known.
First of all, the FLNKS notes that the President of the French Republic only moves very slightly from his positions despite the clear messages from the people of Kanaky New Caledonia: “We do not want the electorate roll to be “unfreezed” ! ».
President Macron's announcement that the law to “unfreeze” New Caledonia’s electoral roll “will not be imposed by force” is a clear indication that :
- on the one hand, that the mobilisation has succeeded in making the French Government bend;
- and secondly, that national and international opinion has also taken up our cause.
The President of the French Republic today notes that, in addition to the general mobilisation, obtaining a sufficient majority of French parliamentarians at the Congress of Versailles to definitively adopt the “unfreezing” of New Caledonia’s electoral roll is becoming increasingly compromised. The FLNKS therefore
points out that, through stylistic language, the President of the French Republic is using the phrase “imposed by force” in order to avoid losing face.
Secondly, the FLNKS nevertheless notes that the subject of the institutional future of Kanaky New Caledonia is finally being dealt with directly by President Macron with all the seriousness and commitment that this implies.
Thirdly, the FLNKS takes note of the words of the President of the French Republic recognising the political nature of the current mobilisation and disavowing, at the same time, the false and misleading statements by Minister Darmanin and the High Commissioner of the Republic in New Caledonia describing our young people as thugs and terrorists. However, it has to be said that the extreme violence of the repression orchestrated by the forces of law and order and the army on the ground is in total contradiction with the words of the President of the French Republic and with the rejection of the use of force against the freedom of peoples reaffirmed by the french Constitutional Council.
Finally, the FLNKS takes note of the de-escalation process proposed by the President of the Republic andt the commitments requested from each of the parties so that this crisis can be resolved from the top down.
In this sense, the FLNKS renews its call for calm and also asks that the stranglehold on the main traffic routes be loosened so that the New Caledonian population can, gradually, move freely, obtain supplies and have access to the most basic public services. In addition, the FLNKS notes that the French Head of State is today proposing a new working framework which would make it possible, as has been requested tirelessly for several months, to create conditions conducive to discussion and negotiation so that an overall political agreement can be reached with all the time necessary.
The prerequisite for overcoming the crisis is that the French Government takes account of a number off undamental premises :
- The people have spoken. The FLNKS is opposed to the “unfreeze” New Caledonia’s electoral roll as defined in the draft constitutional law. This text must therefore be withdrawn by the French Government ;
- The French State must once again become impartial and decisions must therefore be taken by consensus. Consequently, the FLNKS demands that the mediation mission set up by the Head of State be completed by high-level personalities in order to place the discussions in both technical and political perspectives ;
- French justice must do its job independently and severely punish the criminal anti-independence militias that have operated with impunity in Kanaky New Caledonia ;
- Finally, Kanaky New Caledonia is not France, as stipulated by international law. Consequently, the
French Head of State must imperatively respect the principles of his own Constitution, among which are the prohibition for the French Republic to use "its forces against the freedom of any people", the free determination of peoples and the right of peoples to self-determination.
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