\nPARIS \u2013 France\u2019s Overseas Minister Manuel Valls is returning to New Caledonia on Tuesday in a bid to rescue a political agreement that would redefine the territory\u2019s status with broad new powers, despite outright rejection by the main pro-independence movement.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n
\nThe Bougival Agreement, struck<\/a> in Paris in July between loyalist and pro-independence leaders, promised to redefine the territory\u2019s status, under French control since the mid-19th century, after more than a year of deadly unrest.\n<\/p>\n \nBut hopes of consensus collapsed<\/a> on 13 August, when the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) walked away.\n<\/p>\n \nAhead of touching down in the capital Noum\u00e9a, Valls said<\/a> his task will be \u201cto explain, clarify, add detail and persuade \u2013 as much as necessary.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe tentative accord envisages<\/a> the creation of a distinct Caledonian nationality \u2013 held alongside French citizenship \u2013 and the establishment of a ‘State of New Caledonia’ with sweeping powers over diplomacy, justice and currency, though defence would remain with Paris.\n<\/p>\n \nThe agreement also proposes opening the electoral roll to residents who have lived in New Caledonia for at least 10 years, beginning with the 2031 provincial elections.\n<\/p>\n \nThe issue of voter eligibility has long been a flashpoint: a similar reform sparked the deadly unrest<\/a> of May 2024, when Kanak activists accused Paris of tilting the demographic balance in favour of settlers from mainland France \u2013 and therefore of pro-French loyalist parties.\n<\/p>\n \nTo take effect, the reforms must pass<\/a> New Caledonia\u2019s congress, requiring a three-fifths majority plus an additional five seats. The FLNKS, and particularly the influential Caledonian Union (UC), argue that this threshold is unattainable and accuse Paris of engineering a disguised veto over further transfers of power.\n<\/p>\n \nDominique Fochi, UC secretary general and a senior figure in the FLNKS, dismissed<\/a> the Bougival text as offering no \u201cguarantee of stability for the country, for its future.\u201d A pathway to full sovereignty had been drawn, he said, but it resembled \u201ca Via Dolorosa, given how many locks and obstacles are in place.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nIn the coming days, Valls is expected<\/a> to court influential local figures and customary leaders to win support. He is likely to exploit rifts in the pro-independence camp: the National Union for Independence (UNI), which split from the FLNKS during last year\u2019s unrest, has backed the agreement. Its President in congress, Jean-Pierre Dja\u00efw\u00e9, argues<\/a> the deal provides \u201ca gradual path to full sovereignty.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nOn what is already his fourth visit to Noum\u00e9a this year, Valls also aims to set up a drafting committee for the agreement. But its legitimacy will be hard to sustain without FLNKS involvement. Since the 1980s, the UN has recognised<\/a> the movement as the representative voice of New Caledonia\u2019s decolonisation struggle.\n<\/p>\n \n(mm)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS \u2013 France\u2019s Overseas Minister Manuel Valls is returning to New Caledonia on Tuesday in a bid to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-355308","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115052280832110137","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}