The separatists are set to take the head of the collegiate government of New Caledonia for the first time since the Noumea Accord of 1998, following the overthrow of the alliance of a pivotal party, before a third referendum on the independence by 2022.
Read also: Political crisis in New Caledonia
On February 2, the five FLNKS (Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak Socialiste) members of the government resigned, which
de facto
led
to
the fall of the executive, chaired since June 2019 by loyalist Thierry Santa.
They questioned "
the broken institutional dynamic, budget delays and the difficulties of collegiality
", and above all the project to sell the nickel plant of the Brazilian group Vale, "
which gives priority to the interests of multinationals without consideration of the aspirations of local populations
".
By bringing down the government, the FLNKS, fiercely opposed to the takeover of this industrial tool by a New Caledonian and international consortium including the commodity trader Trafigura, wanted to halt the ongoing institutional process that would allow communities to validate the transaction.
This was postponed to March to allow time for dialogue.
The election of the new government will take place on Wednesday by the 54 elected members of Congress (deliberative assembly), after validation of the lists the day before by the High Commission of the Republic.
Filed last Friday, these foreshadow the election of a government with a pro-independence majority, for the first time since the start of the Nouméa agreement which organizes the phased decolonization of the archipelago.
Indeed, the FLNKS should logically obtain 6 "
ministers
" out of 11, thanks to the rallying of the Oceanian Awakening to the UC-FLNKS list.
Read also: New Caledonia: the separatists resign and lead to the fall of the government
This small formation, representing the Wallisian and Futunian community, has been the arbiter of the Caledonian political scene since the provincial elections of May 2019.
With its three elected to Congress, the Oceanic Awakening has the ability to tip the majority into one or the other camp, loyalist or independence.
“
It was the only smart choice for us.
We do not share the same vision with the AEC
(coalition from which Thierry Santa, editor's note)
on the future of the Vale plant and the budgetary impasse
”, explained to AFP Milikulo Tukumuli, leader of the 'EO, which claims to be “
independent and not independentist
”.
Criticizing the strategy of the EO, which in June 2019 had already allowed the separatists to take the "
perch
" of Congress, the AEC loyalists considered "
that the election of a separatist as president of the government would be a denial of democracy
”.
"
We will oppose it with all the force of our convictions
", they indicated in a press release, accusing "
the separatists of continuing their policy of destabilization
", in allusion to the violence which punctuated the actions against the takeover of the factory. by Vale.
For its part, Caledonia together (non-independence) had called for the formation of a government of "
public safety
", taking into account according to its leaders "
the budgetary, mining and metallurgical and political dead ends
" in which New Caledonia finds itself.
The candidate proposed by this center-right minority party to head the government, however, did not reach a consensus.
Read also: The nickel war destabilizes New Caledonia
So far, the sixteen Caledonian governments that have followed one another since the establishment of the institutions of the Nouméa Accord have been chaired by non-independence figures, none of them from the Kanak community.
