A-Infos (en) France, OCL: NEW CALEDONIA - No return to "normal" after the riots! (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Despite the Matignon and Nouméa agreements, New Caledonia continues to 
strongly resemble a colony, through its enormous wealth gaps between 
"Europeans" and Kanak, its financial dependence on the French state, 
weak power and inefficiency. of its institutions... or even the impunity 
enjoyed by loyalist militias. It is therefore a question of 
fundamentally reforming New Caledonian society, and not of returning to 
the status quo ante. ---- In the speeches that have circulated in the 
French public square since the archipelago went up in flames in mid-May, 
we often find a lack of understanding of the acts committed by the 
rioters. Or an attempt to dissociate the independence activists who 
block the roads from the arsonists of public buildings and other looters 
of shops. Or the idea that barbarians had suddenly plunged a harmonious 
multicultural Caledonian society into chaos. In truth, the social 
situation was increasingly explosive on the territory, and by wanting to 
bury the demand for independence by "thawing" its special electorate, 
the government lit the fuse.

A major economic crisis
Until 2010, the archipelago stood out from a metropolis always on the 
verge of recession by its growth rate, which has been between 3 and 4% 
for two decades. Its good figures were due to the nickel industry (which 
constitutes the main source of income for the territory and employs 20 
to 25% of its inhabitants), to the law on tax exemption for overseas 
investments, to the low level of its income tax and to the manna 
provided by the French State: subsidies to the provinces, financing of 
local institutions or mixed economy companies, salaries indexed at 1.7 
for civil servants coming from mainland France, etc. Many 
infrastructures have thus appeared (roads, electricity networks, 
airport, hospital, etc.); but state aid has dried up, resulting in an 
enormous indebtedness of the territory and the near-bankruptcy of its 
social security systems. In addition, global overproduction of nickel, 
falling prices, the exorbitant cost of energy, investment shortfalls and 
competition from Indonesian mines have plunged its three metallurgical 
plants into serious difficulties.

In this territory where life is already very expensive, the increase in 
energy has of course also worsened the daily lives of the working 
classes, in which we can include most of the Kanaks (like the Wallisians 
and Futunians who work in construction, mining or public works); on the 
other hand, we find the "Europeans", these caldoches and "métros" (new 
arrivals) who work mainly in import-export, administration or nickel.

The issue of financial transfers provided by the State to Caledonian 
institutions has become a hot topic after the referendums: if they were 
to disappear, it would be necessary - unless the standard of living on 
the archipelago was to reduce - to tax very high incomes much more than 
they are currently. But, although led by the separatists, the government 
is hardly inclined to do so. When Louis Mapou (a Palika leader) became 
its leader in 2021, he certainly promised a "foundation on inequalities" 
to discuss education, employment, youth, the fight against domestic 
violence and... taxation, announcing a "fundamental reform", but he 
added: "We will, however, ensure that the modification of compulsory 
deductions has a reasonable impact on the tax burden, which is around 
35% of GDP in our country, compared to 45% in France."

The moderation of this pro-independence President is obviously not 
enough for the anti-independence supporters, so their opposition to his 
policy has grown in recent months. On March 21, their elected 
representatives left the Congress in support of the road bosses who were 
blocking access to it and to two fuel depots, because the government 
proposed, in order to make up for the deficit in the Caledonian 
electricity system, to generate additional revenue by taxing fuels. This 
involved adding to the fixed portion of the energy transition tax (TTE) 
an additional portion varying according to the cost of fuel. The 
truckers' blockade continued until March 26, when the government 
withdrew its project. On the 28th, the day when the "nickel pact" 
concocted by the government was to be signed in Paris (see box), the 
anti-independence supporters, hostile to this project, called for a 
march on the Caledonian Congress. Other demonstrations followed, 
organized by one camp or the other, with the theme of the "thaw" of the 
electorate that the government was seeking. The biggest day was April 
13, when 30,000 pro-independence supporters and 20,000 loyalists marched 
in Noumea, according to figures from Le Monde. Then there were the riots...

The impact of capitalism on the Kanak community
According to the "Socio-economic survey of households in New Caledonia" 
carried out in 1981 by INSEE, 70% of Kanaks then lived on reserves 
(where their homes were worth five times less than the national average 
and 60% had no water or electricity). Today, these reserves are becoming 
impoverished at the same time as they are being abandoned: not only is 
the agricultural economy no longer the main activity of the Kanaks - 
most of them work or seek employment in the nickel industry, 
administration or services - but many young people are leaving for the 
city, to study or find work, or out of a desire to escape the collective 
constraints of tribal life, or even the authority of the "elders". 
Currently, the Caledonian population is only increasing in the Southern 
Province, and more than two out of three Caledonians live in one of the 
four communes of Greater Nouméa ... half of whose inhabitants are Kanak.
This reality makes the comparison between the recent riots and the 
"events" of the 1980s partially false, because the "events" took place 
outside the capital, nicknamed "White Noumea", while the riots took 
place mainly in Greater Noumea. Apart from a few areas of "social mix", 
this agglomeration is split in two, with the most popular - and Kanak - 
districts in the north and the most upscale - inhabited by Caldoches and 
"metros" in the south. Thus, in mid-May, while various establishments 
were burning on one side, peaceful life continued on the other in bars, 
beaches and shopping centres.

In a review of the Noumea Agreement carried out by private companies in 
2011, and updated in 2018, it was already possible to read that while 
Kanak identity has been "enhanced by actions to preserve cultural 
heritage, safeguard and teach languages, and by continuing land reform 
(...), the transmission of Kanak heritage is weakened by the combined 
effect of urban polarization, the individualization of society and the 
renewal of generations". It was also noted that the level of education 
had improved in the Northern and Islands provinces - but most Kanaks are 
still at the bottom of the social ladder. Education, health and 
administration civil servants who live rather comfortably, benefiting 
like their "metropolitan" colleagues from an indexed salary are only a 
minority.

In the 2019 census, Kanaks represented 41.5% of the population in the 
archipelago - and 57% of non-graduates, 75% of workers, 70% of the 
unemployed, 90% of prisoners and 6% of higher education graduates. And, 
in this archipelago, the richest 10% earn about eight times what the 
poorest 10% earn (the ratio is 4.4 in mainland France); nearly a fifth 
of its population lives below the poverty line, and these are mainly 
young people without qualifications... 71% Kanak.

These young people who often squat in the shanty towns of Greater Noumea 
were raised with the dream of an independent Kanaky, but see this 
perspective fading away. So, it is not surprising that their challenge 
to the established order is accompanied by a criticism of the 
independence leaders (including their lifestyle or their indifference 
towards the "common people") and a desire to put them against the wall. 
Similarly, it is not surprising that these young people have primarily 
attacked the infrastructure of their neighbourhoods (schools, shops, 
administrative and hospital buildings, etc.). Looting and destruction 
have reflected their conviction that there is no social advancement to 
be had through diplomas; and then it was easier to act there, on 
familiar ground - while residential neighbourhoods are protected by 
armed far-right militias.

On May 21, the son of Alphonse Dianou (one of the independence activists 
who died in Ouvéa in 1988) told Mediapart:  "There is a fracture, 
otherwise we would not have reached this point, the young would have 
eased off after the first communiqué from the old people calling for 
calm. (...) It is said that young people are disinterested in politics, 
but that is false: they are aware of the issues at stake. The problem is 
that our politicians talk about a global agreement when for our 
generations, the only global agreement is full sovereignty (...) now."

The most radical faction of the pro-independence movement has understood 
the message. Thus, the Union Syndicale des Travailleurs Kanak et des 
Exploitaires (USTKE) declared in a press release on 27 May: "There is no 
question that the question of accession to independence be sacrificed 
again on the altar of yet another status quo and short-sighted political 
interests. (...) We have been entangled in this "decolonisation without 
independence" so dear to Rocard for thirty-six years, and there is no 
question of endorsing a repeat of these retrograde agreements that have 
only perpetuated the colonial system and whose disastrous results we can 
see today through the revolt of the Kanak youth."

The political class of New Caledonia easily boasts of a custom of 
"talking together" in order to be able to coexist and make the 
institutions work; but in fact these institutions experience multiple 
dysfunctions that lead to their frequent paralysis. As no Caledonian 
party has the means to lead its policy alone in Congress, incessant 
political games make the institutions quite unstable. From 2011 to 2014, 
for example, it was the loyalists who blocked them. In 2014-2015 and in 
2017, the Caledonian executive functioned without a President in the 
absence of a consensus, and therefore only managed current affairs. This 
scenario happened again, but this time because of the separatists: in 
2019 they managed to be in the majority in Congress by concluding an 
alliance with the Oceanian Awakening. Roch Wamitan of the UC has been 
leading this Congress since then, which appointed the members of the 
17th government on 17 February 2021 - but Louis Mapou only took over on 
8 July because the UC and Palika were fighting over the position. This 
squabble has even displeased the pro-independence ranks: at the 
convention held by the FLNKS in Kouaoua on 1 May, young people and Kanak 
customary people from the region briefly locked the gate of the 
administrative centre where it was taking place, in particular to force 
its leaders to agree on a name.

Current divisions in the independence movement
As hoped by the French State, the Matignon and Noumea agreements created 
in both camps, pro-independence and anti-independence, very strong 
divisions between their supporters and their adversaries; they caused 
frequent splits in both, and encouraged groups or personalities to 
conclude occasional and often improbable alliances to gain access to 
local power.

Today, the FLNKS retains the bulk of the Kanak electorate, but its 
composition has fluctuated over time and its components are far from 
operating in unison. The two main ones have also mutated: the UC was 
originally "socialist" while the Palika was on the far left; the Palika 
is now much more moderate than the UC, and even less keen than it to 
break with the French state. When, in November 2023, the Cellule de 
coordination des actions de terrain (CCAT) was launched to fight against 
the reform of the electoral body, the Palika did not participate - the 
initiative came from the UC and the USTKE, among others. At the 42nd 
FLNKS congress (March 23-24, 2024), a desire for unity was nevertheless 
displayed given the importance of the issues at stake (defining a common 
strategy for the "thawing" of the electoral body desired by the state); 
all its components were there, as well as the USTKE and the Labor Party.
During the riots, however, the usual dissensions within the FLNKS and 
the desire to negotiate with the French State very quickly reappeared. 
From May 15, calls for "discernment and appeasement" multiplied:
"Frustration and anger must not engage us in a dynamic of rupture, said 
Louis Mapou on NC La 1re. (...) We cannot suddenly start destroying what 
we have built with difficulty since 1988 in conditions of peace that we 
had to seek." Daniel Goa said in a statement: "The looting is our 
dishonor (...), the time has come to show the maturity of our people." 
The FLNKS, in its statement, "regrets and wishes to denounce" the 
atrocities committed and calls for the "lifting of the roadblocks"...

The CCAT fortunately highlighted in its report the social content of the 
riots: "The "atrocities" committed against businesses, companies, 
buildings and public facilities were not necessary but they are the 
expression of the invisible members of society who suffer the full brunt 
of inequalities and who are marginalized on a daily basis (...)."

The government's response was swift: on May 17, the Noumea prosecutor's 
office announced the opening of an investigation to find the "sponsors" 
of the riots, and targeted the CCAT leaders because of "their public 
statements and their slogans". It pointed out numerous crimes: criminal 
association, theft, damage by fire in an organized gang, grouping with 
the aim of committing violence or damage, or even complicity in murder. 
29 people were placed under house arrest, including 25 members of the 
CCAT, and the 33 administrative searches carried out concerned almost 
exclusively its activists.

Latest events
At the Noumea court, an immediate appearance hearing takes place every 
day and the sentences are as expeditious as they are severe. On May 29, 
two young Kanaks were sentenced to six months in prison, with a 
committal warrant, for having thrown a bottle and a stone respectively 
at the gendarmerie's armored vehicles.
This repression prompted the UC to harden its positions a little: it 
refused to meet with the "mediation and work mission" tasked by Macron 
to "resolve the crisis in the archipelago", and Daniel Goa proposed, on 
June 8, to declare the "immediate, full and non-negotiable" sovereignty 
of the territory on September 24, 2024, specifying: "Sovereignty will 
then be shared if France accepts it. It will be full and complete at the 
end of this transition period, on September 24, 2029, the anniversary of 
176 years of colonization."

Louis Mapou called on the same day "to lift the roadblocks, the 
blockades, and to stop all the exactions", while saying that the 
"mobilization[of the rioters?]has contributed to the awareness of the 
acuteness of the problems of society and the necessary attention that 
they require". Then he asked the State to provide the archipelago, 
taking into account its financial situation, with much more aid than the 
measures announced, because the latter can only cover "half of the needs"...

The European elections of June 9 were marked by an abstention rate of 
86.87%. Serious clashes with the police took place that day in the 
northern districts of Greater Nouméa, and the four-lane Savexpress was 
blocked.
On June 12, Emmanuel Macron announced the suspension of the 
constitutional revision project modifying the electoral body of New 
Caledonia. On the
15th, the 43rd FLNKS congress in Netchaot was to continue discussions on 
the "institutional future of the country" and decide on the choice of 
its candidates for the national legislative elections. But this congress 
was abruptly postponed... because access to the site for a large CCAT 
delegation was deemed "unmanageable for the safety of all" by the 
Netchaot customaries. The UC gave the names of its candidates for the 
legislative elections the next day and the Palika is not presenting any 
- there is therefore no single FLNKS candidate.

Finally, 11 CCAT officials (including Roch Wamytan's chief of staff) 
were taken into custody on the 19th, with a search of its premises - 
which led to new roadblocks, damaged police vehicles and injured 
gendarmes, and a call to demonstrate that day in Noumea...

Solidarity with the Kanaks fighting against the established order!

Vanina , June 22, 2024

The government's very intrusive "nickel pact"

In November 2023, Economy Minister Bruno Lemaire presented a plan to 
"recover" the Caledonian nickel industry. The government would subsidize 
energy prices to the tune of 200 million euros; in return, the 
archipelago's three factories would be operated by industrialists to be 
"profitable" and would supply the European market for electric batteries 
as a priority. The document, which had been under negotiation for four 
months, was to be ratified on March 25 in Paris by the various 
stakeholders: the French State, Caledonian President Louis Mapou, the 
presidents of the provinces, and industrialists. But Louis Mapou 
requested that its signature be postponed, because he wanted to receive 
authorization from the Caledonian Congress before validating the 
agreement... However, the anti-independence activists deserted this 
Congress...

The government's project constitutes interference in mining and tax 
affairs that is not going down well in the archipelago: the Noumea 
Accord entrusted the management of nickel to its institutions to promote 
its development; giving it back to the French State would "recolonize" 
the archipelago [1]. His government should reform the Mining Code with a 
country law allowing "any exporter of raw ore" to sell to "any 
customer", regardless of the origin of the ore and the country of 
destination. In addition, Lemaire explicitly asks him to authorize more 
exports of raw ores, while the processing of nickel brings added value 
if it is carried out on site. Finally, he proposes to help factories by 
subsidizing energy prices to the tune of 200 million euros and to 
develop electricity production capacity on the territory. But in return 
he wants these factories to be operated "by industrialists" to be 
"profitable", and for New Caledonia to participate in their subsidy to 
the tune of 66.7 million euros. To do this, the local government would 
have to find additional revenue with the TGC, the general consumption 
tax - so the population would have to put their hands in their pockets. 
Not a given...

Notes
[1] Reporterre , "  New Caledonia: a "colonialist" agreement on nickel 
stirs up tensions  ", May 17, 2024

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4216
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