SI is part of PIF’s mandated troika mission to New Caledonia as regional leaders collaborate to help resolve the political stalemate in the territory long annexed by France
SOLOMON Islands, Cook Islands and Tonga – the Pacific Islands Forum Troika – have been mandated to visit New Caledonia to hold discussions in an effort to help resolve the political stalemate in the troubled French Pacific territory.
Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele said the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders caucus on the situation of New Caledonia convened on 17 July at the margins of the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting in Tokyo, Japan.
He said Solomon Islands at the caucus, Solomon Islands suggested the inclusion of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Chair, Vanuatu to be part of the PIF mission to New Caledonia.
PM Manele said the PIF mission is expected to visit New Caledonia prior to the Pacific Islands Forum Meeting in Tonga so as to share the findings with the wider Pacific region.
He said the Pacific Islands Forum Chair, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, is now consulting with France to allow the mission to visit New Caledonia and hold discussions.
PM Brown had said, “New Caledonia is a PIF Member and we have a responsibility to take care of our family in a time of need. We wish to support the de-escalation of violence and promote understanding and dialogue between all parties. Our objective is to help all parties resolve this situation as peacefully and expeditiously as possible.”
MSG Leaders have also met at the margins of PALM 10 on the political stalemate in New Caledonia and issued a statement, which amongst a number of key points, called for a new and fair self-determination referendum be conducted with technical preparatory supervision by UN experts and observation missions for the actual independence referendum to determine the political future of New Caledonia.
The MSG Leaders stated that they strongly believe that the lasting peace we are all seeking can only be guaranteed over time by efforts on both sides to propose political solutions that respond to the legitimate aspirations of the colonized indigenous people of Kanaky-New Caledonia as part of the decolonization process that has been underway since the Nouméa Accords.
They called on the French authorities to urgently make the announcement on the resumption of talks, convinced that this announcement will help create an environment conducive to the continuation of negotiations for a new political solution or agreement for the future of New Caledonia, which remains within the decolonization process envisaged in the Nouméa Accord.
Meanwhile, AAP has reported that France has hit back at New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister Winton Peters for suggesting a referendum in New Caledonia was not in the spirit of the law as it mulls a request from Pacific leaders to tour the territory.
Meanwhile, AAP New Caledonia was rocked by riots which left 10 people dead, after controversial voting reforms were passed in Paris that Indigenous Kanak people argued would water down their voice in the French territory.
French Ambassador to the Pacific Veronique Roger-Lacan rebuked suggestions from Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters that a 2021 referendum for independence – boycotted by Kanaks as they grieved COVID-19 pandemic deaths – wasn’t legitimate.
French Ambassador to the Pacific Veronique Roger-Lacan rebuked suggestions from Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters that a 2021 referendum for independence – boycotted by Kanaks as they grieved COVID-19 pandemic deaths – was not legitimate.
DPM Peters said while it was ‘within the letter of the law … but it was not within the spirit of it’ due to the number of people who boycotted.
The Ambassador questioned how he would react if he heard “French politicians qualifying an election in NZ, ie, a purely internal matter, as abiding by the law, but not the spirit of the law”.
“Separating the law and its spirit, in the field of elections and votes, does not make sense. Either the election or the vote are legal, or not – in this case, it is legal, full stop,” she told AAP.
“Democratically and legally, everyone was called and allowed to vote. Those who decided not to, took their responsibilities.”
According to history, New Caledonia was annexed by France in 1853. In 1878, the islands’ indigenous Kanak rose up against French troops over loss of land. Two hundred Europeans and at least 600 insurgents were killed while some 1,500 Kanaks were forced into exile.
By DELI-SHARON OSO
Solomon Star, Honiara
