NICE, France (AP) — The leader of a pro-independence party in New Caledonia on Saturday called on supporters to “remain mobilized” across the French Pacific archipelago and “maintain resistance” against the Paris government's efforts to impose electoral reforms that the Indigenous Kanak people fear would further marginalize them.
Christian Tein, the leader of the pro-independence party known as The Field Action Coordination Unit, addressed supporters and protesters in a video message. It was posted on social media two days after he and other pro-independence leaders met with French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to the territory following unrest that left seven dead and a trail of destruction.
Macron repeatedly pushed for the removal of protesters’ barricades with leaders on both sides of New Caledonia’s bitter divide — Indigenous Kanaks, who want independence, and the pro-Paris leaders, who do not.
The French president told them that the state of emergency imposed by Paris for at least 12 days on May 15 to boost police powers could only be lifted if local leaders call for a clearing away of barricades that demonstrators and people trying to protect their neighborhoods erected in the capital, Noumea, and beyond.
In the video message, Tein called on protesters to “slightly loosen the grip” on their barricades in Noumea, its suburbs and along the archipelago's main roads in order to transport fuel, food, medicine and facilitate access to health care for the inhabitants of the islands in the North and South.
But Tein insisted that the barricades would remain in place until French authorities lift house arrest warrants for several of his party members, and Macron's government scraps the electoral reform that Kanaks fear will dilute their influence by allowing some more recent arrivals in the archipelago to vote in local elections.
“We remain mobilized (and) maintain all (forms) of resistance," Tein said and urged supporters to remain steadfast and refrain from violence. “There has been too much suffering, there’s too much at stake and we must see (this) through (and) achieve our goals in a coordinated, structured and organized way.” He added: “Our main objective is for our country to obtain full sovereignty.”
Barricades made up of charred vehicles and other debris have turned parts of Noumea into no-go zones and made traveling around perilous, including for the sick requiring medical treatment and for families fretting about food and water after shops were pillaged and torched.
Police in the northern part of the New Caledonian capital have dismantled several roadblocks in the past several days, but the protesters quickly regrouped and rebuilt them. Tensions remain high throughout the archipelago, local officials said Saturday, despite state of emergency measures that include a 12-hour daily curfew, a ban on public gatherings, the transport of weapons and the sale of alcohol, and a block on TikTok.
In the past seven months, Tein's Field Action Coordination Unit has organized major, peaceful marches in New Caledonia against the Paris-backed voting reform. The unrest began early last week after a demonstration against the legislation under discussion in the French parliament turned violent.
In a separate statement, The Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, a pro-independence movement, called on Macron to withdraw the electoral reform bill if France wants to “end the crisis.”
Both French houses of parliament in Paris have already approved the overhaul. The next step was to have been a special Congress of both houses meeting in Versailles to implement it by amending the French Constitution. That had been expected by the end of June.
Speaking after meeting leaders in New Caledonia, Macron said that he won’t force through the contested voting reform that sparked the territory’s worst unrest in decades.
Macron called on local leaders to come up with an alternate agreement for the archipelago’s future and laid out a road map that he said could lead to another referendum for the territory.
Three earlier referendums were organized between 2018 and 2021 by French authorities as part of the 1988 peace deal. They produced “no” votes against independence although the independence supporters boycotted the last vote in December 2021.
Macron said another one could be on a new political deal for the archipelago that he hopes local leaders will agree on in coming weeks and months after protesters’ barricades are dismantled, allowing for a state of emergency to be lifted and for peace to return.
New Caledonia became French in 1853 under Emperor Napoleon III, Napoleon’s nephew and heir. It became an overseas territory after World War II, with French citizenship granted to all Kanaks in 1957.
FILE - Smoke rises during protests in Noumea, New Caledonia, Wednesday May 15, 2024. France has imposed a state of emergency in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia. The French prosecutor for New Caledonia says there's been another shooting death in the riot-hit French Pacific territory, with a police officer taken into custody after using their firearm Friday May 24, 2024 when they were set upon by a group of about 15 people. It comes a day after French President Emmanuel Macron made an emergency round-trip from Paris to de-escalate the violence in New Caledonia where Indigenous Kanak people have long sought independence from France. (AP Photo/Nicolas Job, File)
Pro-independence leader calls on protesters in New Caledonia to 'maintain resistance' against France
Pro-independence leader calls on protesters in New Caledonia to 'maintain resistance' against France
BRUSSELS (AP) — The 27 leaders of the European Union gather in Brussels on Monday evening to take stock of recent European election results and begin the fraught process of dividing up the bloc’s top jobs, but they will be playing their usual political game with a deck of reshuffled cards.
The June 6-9 elections saw the European Parliament shift to the right and dealt major blows to pro-European governing parties in Paris and Berlin. The Franco-German motor that usually propels EU politics along was weakened, and new dynamics could be on show at the informal dinner.
Under the EU’s complicated division of powers, the presidents and prime ministers get to nominate the next head of the bloc's powerful executive branch, the European Commission, which is responsible for drawing up EU policy on everything from climate to the colossal shared budget.
Under the EU's treaties, their choice should take into account the results of the election.
German conservative Ursula von der Leyen looks likely to stay on as president for another five years after a strong showing for her center-right European People’s Party parliamentary group.
In an interview with Germany's Welt TV on Saturday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said “it is clear after the results of the elections that everything indicates that there can be a second term in office for Ursula von der Leyen.” He said he believes the top job nominations could be agreed “quickly."
Von der Leyen, at the helm of the EU since 2019, led a huge drive during the pandemic to secure billions of COVID-19 vaccine doses, set up a historic post-pandemic economic recovery fund and, from 2022, drummed up support for Ukraine in its war with Russia and extended a hand to Kyiv to join the bloc.
But nothing is guaranteed. Von der Leyen's presidential style has at times riled her commission colleagues, and she is deeply unpopular in some corners of the EU Parliament, where she will need the support of 361 of the 720 lawmakers to hold on to her job.
The other big posts up for grabs are that of European Council president, held by Belgian centrist Charles Michel, and EU foreign policy chief, occupied by Josep Borrell of Spain from the center-left. The council president’s job is to broker deals between the 27 member states, while the top diplomat represents the EU on the world stage.
In Brussels, names for the big posts have circulated for months. Portuguese Socialist Prime Minister António Costa is frequently mentioned to become council president. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, well known for her tough line on Russia, has been floated as the bloc’s potential top diplomat.
French President Emmanual Macron said the aim Monday is "to try to have a quick consensus. But perhaps we need to wait until June 27-28,” when the leaders meet again in Brussels for a formal EU summit.
“I don’t want to preempt things," Macron said on Saturday. "These discussions are happening with 27 of us, so we have advanced, several of us have called each other, and I think it’s possible. I think it’s possible in the days to come, or in the week to come.’’
Von der Leyen’s own path to power in 2019 shows that the tussle over EU top jobs can be unpredictable. Then a German defense minister somewhat tainted by scandal in her ministry, von der Leyen was a relative unknown in Brussels when her name was raised by leaders in closed-door discussions.
Back then, the support of her close ally, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Macron helped her clinch the nomination. Given the current balance of power in Europe, it’s hard to imagine Macron and Scholz pulling a major surprise this time.
Scholz is licking his wounds after his Social Democrats took a drubbing, while Macron is tied up with the snap elections he called last week in a risky bid to see off the far right.
In a secret ballot in 2019, von der Leyen made it over the line with 383 votes, nail bitingly close to the threshold of 374. She was an unpopular nominee because she had not campaigned in elections as a lead candidate and was seen as being imposed on Parliament by the leaders.
Associated Press writers Lorne Cook and Samuel Petrequin in Brussels, Angela Charlton in Paris and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen arrives at the Ukraine peace summit in Obbürgen, Switzerland, Saturday, June 15, 2024. Switzerland is hosting scores of world leaders this weekend to try to map out the first steps toward peace in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during the opening plenary session of the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, in Obbürgen, Switzerland, Saturday June 15, 2024. Switzerland is hosting scores of world leaders this weekend to try to map out the first steps toward peace in Ukraine. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone via AP)
President Emmanuel Macron of France speaks during the opening plenary session, during the Summit on peace in Ukraine, in Obbürgen, Switzerland, Saturday June 15, 2024. Dozens of world leaders converged on a Swiss resort Saturday to discuss how to bring peace to war-ravaged Ukraine, though any hopes of a real breakthrough were muted by the absence of Russia. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone via AP)
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen arrives at the Ukraine peace summit in Obbürgen, Switzerland, Saturday, June 15, 2024. Switzerland is hosting scores of world leaders this weekend to try to map out the first steps toward peace in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen attends the plenary session during the Summit on peace in Ukraine, in Obbürgen, Switzerland, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone via AP)
