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Confined to New Caledonia, Minister Sébastien Lecornu initiates post-referendum negotiations

2020-10-22T18:55:03.413Z


After the majority "no" to independence, the Minister of Overseas Territories, subjected to a fortnight in the archipelago since October 9, has increased contacts with a divided political class.


It's just a matter of hours.

Sébastien Lecornu is preparing to undergo a PCR test, the last step before the lifting, Friday evening, of the fortnight to which he is required in New Caledonia.

Since October 9, the Minister of Overseas Territories has not crossed the fence surrounding the dependency of the High Commission of the Republic, in Nouméa, where he is cloistered with a small delegation of advisers.

Isolation imposed on all arrivals, even if they represent the government, in this Pacific "bubble" free from local cases of Covid-19.

Read also: New Caledonia chooses 53.26% to remain French, pushing "yes" to independence

Sent by Emmanuel Macron to the archipelago to initiate the delicate post-referendum discussions, after the second victory of the "no" to independence on October 4, the minister once again saw

"a form of confinement

".

"But 16,000 kilometers from my home and with 9 hours of jet lag"

, he tells his interlocutors by phone, this divine eraser of distances that he has only abandoned to lend himself to a few rowing sessions and bike, in the garden.

Or to connect to encrypted communication devices, in the small room where a gendarme takes him, during ministerial and defense councils.

Interview marathon

After a first week devoted to the health situation in Guadeloupe and Martinique, the defector from the right is now engaged in a marathon of remote interviews.

Australian Foreign Minister, New Caledonian parliamentarians, political leaders whom he will meet as soon as his confinement ends ...

"It's not a holiday atmosphere!"

, he takes care to insist since his medical retirement, anxious to establish a dialogue between separatists and non-separatists.

To read also: New Caledonia: since the departure of Philippe, a file neglected by Castex

At the end of the line, by audio or videoconference, the two camps remain stuck on their positions.

The leaders of the Kanak and Socialist Liberation Front (FLNKS), reinvigorated by their progress compared to the first referendum of 2018, reminded the minister of their desire to organize a third and last referendum - as allowed by the Noumea agreement of 1998 , if a third of the Archipelago Congress requests it.

Mediator state

As for the coalition of Loyalists, pro-French Caledonia, it reminded it of its opposition to

“any new divisive referendum”

.

A demand proclaimed to the gates of the confined minister, last Saturday, by a crowd of more than 10,000 people, chorus of

La Marseillaise

in support.

Gathered in front of the high commission, at the address of the elected representative of Eure, the non-separatists denounced the restrictive criteria to be able to vote in referendums - only natives of customary status and non-natives fulfilling strict residence conditions.

To read also: New Caledonia: how to explain the independence push?

Representative of a mediator state,

"impartial but not withdrawal"

, Sébastien Lecornu must succeed in appeasing a divided political class, in the wake of the discussions initiated before him by the former Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe.

He promises to take

"initiatives" before

his departure for France on October 30.

"For example, it will be necessary to deepen and obtain clarifications from the political forces on the concrete implications of the 'yes' and 'no': 'in the event of a third referendum, what do we do the next day?'"

, Advances the minister.

The gaze still barred by the sight of the fence, symbol of its confinement, but already turned towards the post-third referendum.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-10-22

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