France accuses Azerbaijan of interference in New Caledonia riots
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin accused Azerbaijan on Thursday of "interference" in the politics of Pacific territory New Caledonia, hit by deadly pro-independence riots in recent days.
"This isn't a fantasy... I regret that some of the separatists have made a deal with Azerbaijan," Darmanin told broadcaster France 2, while adding that "even if there are attempts at interference... France is sovereign on its own territory, and so much the better".
Azerbaijan rejected the French accusations. "We completely reject the baseless accusations," Azerbaijan's foreign ministry spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh said. "We refute any connection between the leaders of the struggle for freedom in Caledonia and Azerbaijan."
A gendarme was killed on Thursday in New Caledonia by an "accidental gunshot", bringing to five the number of deaths in unrest since Monday, including two gendarmes.
What could possibly be a connection between New Caledonia and Azerbaijan? It's not as if they were close neighbours.
Obviously, by backing the Armenians in the Azerbaijani Karabagh region, France perpetuates a cycle of dependency and exploitation, reminiscent of its colonial past. This neocolonial intervention exacerbates tensions and undermines the sovereignty of the Azerbaijani people, perpetuating a legacy of oppression in the guise of support. Hence the tit-for-tat reaction in the French colonies in Oceania, Africa and the Caribbeans. Baku rallied all the independentists.
On Tuesday night, the French National Assembly adopted a bill aimed at allowing non-indigenous citizens to vote in New Caledonia’s local elections. The reform, which local independence activists fear will lower the voting power of the Kanaks, still needs to be approved in a joint session of the National Assembly and the Senate. . . . New Caledonia has some of the world’s largest nickel deposits, and remains one of the key French outposts in the region where the US and China are vying for influence. (end of excerpt) RT is teasing France with that "key". France's entire military is an outpost. As for letting non-indigenous voting, "Darmanin describing it as 'a moral obligation for those who believe in democracy.'"
Demographics of New Caledonia Ethnic groups edit · Kanak 39.1% · European 27.1% · Wallisian and Futunian 8.2% · Tahitian 2.1% · Indonesian 1.4% · Ni-Vanuatu 1% · Vietnamese 0.9% · Other 17.7% ... CIA World Factbook...
France
Wallis and Futuna is an overseas collectivity of France divided into three districts that correspond to three traditional political divisions, or kingdoms (more accurately, paramount chieftaincies).May 3, 2024
So if France moves a few thousand people over to New Caledonia, say, to mine nickel or polish its jet fighter, that would be enough to reject the next independence bid.
What does it take for a democracy to be free from manipulation? RT again: Noumea Mayor Sonia Lagarde urged all sides to show restraint, warning that the unrest may lead to “some sort of a civil war.” Le Franc expressed the same sentiment on Tuesday: “When we are running towards the abyss, there is always time to stop, but right now we are going straight there.”
The Noumea Accord, signed in 1998, restricted voting in local elections to the Kanaks and non-indigenous residents that had lived in the territory prior to 1998. It also paved the way for independence referendums in 2018, 2020, and 2021. In all three cases, the voters rejected independence from France. The last two referendums, however, were marred by low attendance and boycotts from pro-independence parties, who refused to recognize the results.
Colonized by France in the 19th century, the archipelago has a history of uprisings against foreign rule. The last armed insurgency of the indigenous Kanak people ended in 1988, when Paris agreed to grant increased autonomy to New Caledonia.
France took possession of most of present-day New Caledonia in 1853 in ceremonies at Balade and the Île des Pins with the aim of reserving the territory as a possible site for a penal colony.
I wonder, don't you?, what La Figaro means by "the abyss"? I thought La Figaro was some sort of literary and humor journal, light and airy. Apparently the elite in France is chewing its nails up to the elbows. France should decolonize New Caledonia. What do you call it when an empire withdraws from conquered territory? Oops, we're sorry, bye, bye.
I'm sorry, I skipped past RT's introduction of Le Franc. "High Commissioner Louis Le Franc has declared a curfew from 6pm to 6am and banned public gatherings." (RT) [High Commissioner] is “appointed by decree of the president of France deliberated in the Council of Ministers. He publishes the laws of the country with the countersignature of the president of the government of New Caledonia. . . He chairs the Mining Council.... (Wiki) Australia's "country brief": Under the Nouméa Accord, there are three provincial assemblies (elected under a proportional representation process for five-year terms) — the Southern (40 members), Northern (22 members) and Islands provinces (14 members).
The most recent provincial election was held in New Caledonia on 12 May 2019. Fifty-four (from these 76) members of the Provincial Assemblies then become the New Caledonian Congress which, in turn, elects a collegiate, cross-party executive Government of New Caledonia of between five and 11 members (which do not necessarily need to be assembly members themselves), and is accountable to the Congress. The members of the Government of New Caledonia appoint a President to lead the executive. (end of excerpt) So this is the "government of New Caledonia" the High Commissioner. Who hires the cops, cleans the streets? Do people pay taxes? Are there taxes on nickel mining? Oh, it's French nickel.
Louis le Franc has served as a prefect in several French departments. During his career, he has also held cabinet positions at the Presidency of the Republic and, more recently, as chief of staff to the Minister in charge of local authorities. Finally, he has acquired a solid experience in Overseas France and particularly in New Caledonia, where he was Deputy Secretary General and then Secretary General of the High Commission of the Republic for three years. (swapcard[dot]com) He looks like he could be Macron's cousin. So now I start to see what abyss he means. It's not New Caledonia that sliding into it. It's a few thousand elites in France.
16 May, 2024 10:48
[RT]
Several days of riots in New Caledonia have come after Paris proposed changes to the local voting system
France has deployed troops to its Pacific Ocean territory of New Caledonia after four people were killed in violent unrest that erupted on Monday sparked by a new constitutional reform.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced on Wednesday the deployment of troops to “secure” the ports and airport of the French-ruled archipelago. TikTok had also been banned because it was being used by rioters, Attal said. A state of emergency has been declared and will remain in force for 12 days. There have been more than 130 arrests so far, according to the French authorities.
NPR May 15 Macron urged New Caledonian political leaders to "unambiguously condemn all this violence" and invited both pro- and anti-independence leaders to meet him "face to face" in Paris.
His Prime Minister, as I'm reliably informed by a wicked voice in my head, suggests that the High Commissioner designate two persons whose choice would be countersigned by the government of New Caledonia, that grouping of between five and eleven persons, preferably two persons already in France to minimize disruption in people's lives: one person would be "pro-" and the other would be "anti" independence. If they both had gone to college together or even work for the same institution, it would be even easier.
Last month, however, Azerbaijan’s parliament and New Caledonia’s congress signed a memorandum of cooperation in which Baku recognized the local population’s right to self-determination. Following the move, [French Interior Minister] Darmanin accused Azerbaijan of supporting separatism on its territory and suggested that Baku was using tensions in the region to respond to France’s “defense of Armenians” who he said were “massacred” by the Azerbaijanis... In April, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada rejected claims of ethnic cleansing among Armenians, telling Darmanin that he “should not forget that as part of the colonial policy... [France] has committed crimes against humanity with respect to local peoples and brutally murdered millions of innocent people.”
Relations between France and Azerbaijan have been in a tailspin since Baku’s major military operation in the turbulent region of Karabakh in autumn 2023, which was condemned by Paris. Baku managed to regain control over the predominantly Armenian region, which broke away from Azerbaijan in the waning days of the Soviet Union, triggering a mass exodus of refugees from the area. (end of RT excerpt)