Pro-independence camp nixes French Senate-adopted 'State of New Caledonia'

By James C. Pearce

The French Senate has voted through a constitutional amendment concerning the future status of New Caledonia under a new measure that would replace the 1998 Noumea Accord.

The current constitutional reform being considered by the French parliament aims to translate the July 2025 Bougival Accord and the accompanying January 2026 Elysée-Oudinot Accord into law.

The text proposes establishing a "State of New Caledonia" within the French realm and a new process for the gradual transfer of powers from Paris. It rejects any future use of referendums, which Paris considers "divisive."

Ahead of the voting session, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu also announced a new financial package amounting to €2 billion over a five-year period.

Lecornu said the extra package contained funds of €330 million dedicated to strengthening the islands’ attractiveness.

This will include the creation of trade free zones, tax exemptions for future investing businesses and another €500m dedicated to rescuing the crucial nickel mining and processing industry.

French senators have also endorsed another amendment that once again postpones New Caledonia's provincial elections to Dec. 20 at the latest, a move that has proved controversial.

Fresh elections have already been postponed three times since the riots in 2024.

Pro-independence groups claim foul play, arguing that the cancellations were due to fears in Paris that they would win.

The talks, which followed the 2024 riots, were initially endorsed by a majority of New Caledonia's parties represented at its local Congress.

However, in August last year, the FLNKS, the islands’ main pro-independence group, withdrew its support.  

FLNKS leadership claims the proposed agreements do not represent a credible path to the full sovereignty they demand. FLNKS objections to the law have been echoed by Paul Neaoutyine, leader of the pro-independence Parti de Libération Kanak or Palika.

Ahead of the Senate vote, Neaoutyine condemned the bill's content, even though it is supported by his own party. He criticized the government legislation that “marks a break with and a step backwards from the Noumea Accord and closes the door to full sovereignty for New Caledonia.”

In a Le Monde interview, Neaoutyine said, “The Bougival agreement formalizes internal and external federalism, a status of autonomy within France that is intended to be permanent. I do not see how this could be consistent with the Noumea Accord.”

Speaking during the Senate sitting, New Caledonia's pro-independence (Union Calédonienne) senator, Robert Xowie, in a direct reference to the May 2024 riots, also cautioned the French government "not to repeat the errors of the past".

"Kanaky-New Caledonia has already paid a heavy price because of the (French) government's stubbornness," he said.

The measure was adopted by a vote in the French Senate, with a majority of the right and center-right parties.

Passage through the National Assembly will be much harder as opposition appears to be growing.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Lecornu lack a majority in the National Assembly, and the vote needs to pass with a 60 percent threshold.

As well as pro-independence groups rejecting it, the legislation faces criticism across the spectrum in the National Assembly, from the Left-wing La France Insoumise to the extreme-Right Rassemblement National, albeit not for the same reasons.

The Socialist Party has not committed to voting for the legislation "as it stands," claiming that it is fraught with threats and dangers, at a time when the territory is undergoing an unprecedented economic and social crisis.

In an op-ed in Le Monde, seven Socialist deputies, including the party’s first secretary Olivier Faure and the president of the Socialist group in the National Assembly Boris Vallaud, wrote that there can be no lasting solution that ensures peace, stability and development in New Caledonia without a consensual and inclusive agreement.

They said any solution involves bringing the FLNKS back into the fold and Lecornu is banking on them changing their minds if the legislation risks failing.

The populist right, meanwhile, despises Macron and is in no mood to give him any political wins. They currently top the polls ahead of next year’s presidential elections.

For them, New Caledonia is an unruly colony that needs to be quiet and get in line.

In New Caledonia, election remains a sensitive issue. Expanding voting rights risks undermining the local Kanak voices, and continually postponed elections deny them any local governance.

Neaoutyine said that the French State has “ceased to be impartial and has aligned itself with the radical discourse of the Loyalists, who give bad advice[…] without consensus and genuine dialogue, the French State is headed for failure.”

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