Paris talks on New Caledonia's future will 'avoid return to violence'

Supporters and opponents of independence in New Caledonia – whose future status must be negotiated with the French government – are expected to travel to Paris next month for talks.

Carved wood topped with Kanak independence colors in Poindimie, on the east coast of New Caledonia. AFP - THEO ROUBY

The meeting was announced on Monday by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin in an interview with conservative daily Le Figaro. It comes on the back of his three-day visit to the territory to discuss its institutional future.

New Caledonians voted to remain French in a third and final referendum in December 2021, but the pro-independence FLNKS movement has refused to recognise the result.

Darmanin said FLNKS had already accepted Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne’s invitation to "come to Paris in mid-April for about 10 days", adding that loyalist parties had also been asked to participate.

The move represents progress after an earlier bid to launch discussions on New Caledonia’s status was shunned by the independents in October.

Referendum boycott

Supporters of the archipelago’s independence boycotted the third referendum on self-determination because of the Covid-19 crisis. They contest the legitimacy of the ballot, in which 96.5 percent of people voted to remain a part of France.

"Those for and against independence must meet in an official setting,” Darmanin said, calling on both sides to make the necessary compromises.

"Without this we will see a return to violence, which nobody wants."

During his visit, Darmanin reminded citizens that Paris had remained in favor of maintaining French sovereignty in the Pacific territory.

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"We must move away from this uncertainty and keep New Caledonia in France seeing as this was the decision of the New Caledonian people," Darmanin said in an interview on Sunday evening broadcast by New Caledonia’s Channel 1.

Darmanin is due to return to New Caledonia in May, followed by French President Emmanuel Macron in the summer, with a view to reaching an agreement on opening up New Caledonia’s electorate.

Under the 1998 Nouméa Accord, only those native to the territory or those who can prove a decade of residency are allowed to vote in provincial elections.

Loyalists have long called for constitutional reform, but independents remain vehemently opposed.