Page 39 - IB Sept-Oct 2020

New Caledonia New Caledonia

of 280,000 people, with mineral resources and three nickel Philippe, and just changed two or three sentences.”
smelters, but we have lots of people living in squatter settle- At the same time, leaders of the independence movement
ments, they can’t feed their children and the children can’t complain that the French government is actively working
get a good education. That’s what I’m fighting against.” against independence, in spite of pledges of impartiality. All
Rather than call for a No vote, the new Polynesian party has parties accepted the result in 2018 – this may not be the case
encouraged supporters to decide for themselves whether to in 2020.
vote Yes or No in October.
“For more than 30 years, the majority in the Congress – and Social and economic woes
therefore the government – has been opposed to indepen- The current referendum campaign comes in the midst
dence,” Tukumuli said. “The independence movement calls of economic uncertainty, the coronavirus pandemic, and
for independence, but it has never managed the country. So international tensions over relations with China. New Caledo-
we need to shake up this division and to share power, in order nia controlled an early surge of COVID-19 from international
to see whether the independence movement can manage this travellers arriving in Noumea, with only 26 cases. However
responsibility, or not. So we decided to use our three votes to border closures have led to significant economic costs, with a
ensure that in both the Congress and the government, every- decrease in international trade and tourism. There is uncer-
one has a say.” tainty over future markets for New Caledonia’s vast reserves
of nickel ore and the economic viability of the territory’s
Paris distracted three nickel smelters – especially the Goro plant owned by the
In the lead up to the 2018 referendum, French Prime Min- Brazilian corporation Vale.
ister Edouard Philippe allocated extensive time and political In these uncertain times, opinion is shifting and divided.
capital to New Caledonia, forging a consensus on the date Some voters seek closer ties with the French Republic, hoping
for the referendum, the logistics of polling, who could vote for ongoing funding, guarantees of French nationality and
and even the wording of the question. But just three months maintenance of the French colonial project. The majority of
before this year’s referendum, President Emmanuel Macron the Kanak people and other supporters of independence have
reshuffled his Cabinet in Paris, appointing a new Prime Minis- a contrasting vision, believing independence will better allow
ter and Overseas Minister. them to manage the post-pandemic future of the Pacific na-
Conservative politicians have expressed concern that New tion. The vote on 4 October will not end this debate.
Caledonia is not high on the agenda of the new government Predictions about the referendum turnout are complicated
led by Jean Castex. CE’s Philippe Gomes told Islands Business: by a level of voter fatigue. In less than two years, New Cale-
“In 2018, the government was very active. The Prime Min- donians have voted in the November 2018 referendum, May
ister and the President of the French Republic both visited, 2019 provincial elections, the first round of municipal elec-
they spent hundreds of hours talking with everybody and the tions in March 2020 and a second round in June 2020. Despite
referendum was organised after a consensus had been forged. the high stakes on 4 October, some voters have had enough of
Everyone was on board, agreeing about the manner in which politicians.
the vote would be held. For this reason, the result could not And the result? UC’s Roch Wamytan says: “I am hopeful
be questioned, nor was it questioned. that we will increase our score. I’m not sure whether we’ll
“Today, the French government hasn’t done its job and get more than 50 per cent and may have to wait until the
the process is under challenge,” Gomes added. “The inde- third referendum, but we certainly hope to get a few more
pendence movement doesn’t agree about the date of the percentage points beyond the 43 per cent obtained in 2018.
referendum, nor the use of the bleu-blanc-rouge flag, nor the This will strengthen us in the discussions that we will have to
amount of time allocated for Loyalty Islanders to register to undertake with the French state.”
use the polling booths in Noumea. We haven’t agreed about Given that a third referendum is possible under the Noumea
anything.” Accord, CE’s Philippe Gomes agrees that the independence
Roch Wamytan is Speaker of the Congress of New Caledonia movement can advance its cause without gaining a majority.
and a long-time member of the largest independence party “We know that the independence movement desperately
Union Calédonienne. He agrees that Paris is less engaged, at a wants to increase their score this time, because that would
time the French government struggles to cope with more than be a very powerful psychological blow for people opposed to
31,000 deaths from COVID-19, post-Brexit EU debates and independence,” Gomes said. “The same is true for our move-
domestic protests over austerity. ment: we want to hold steady or increase our score! If they
“In 2018, the French state issued a formal statement about manage to increase their Yes vote by two or three per cent,
what would happen in the case of a Yes vote or a No vote,” our people will feel the independence movement breathing
Wamytan said. “Last time, we participated in a series of down their neck. This is another element that explains the
meetings to discuss the sort of issues that would be put before polarisation of debate at the moment.”
the voters of New Caledonia in this statement. But this time,
it seems that they just took the statement issued by Edouard nicmaclellan@optusnet.com.au

Islands Business, September/October 2020 39