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One twelvemonth aft the deadly riots that ravaged Nouméa and shattered New Caledonia’s system and societal fabric, recently elected president Alcide Ponga faces a bid of challenges including heavy part implicit the territory’s governmental aboriginal – and the imaginable of independency from France.
Ponga, who was elected successful January is an indigenous Kanak who is besides anti-independence. The 49-year-old erstwhile nickel enforcement and politician has vowed to get the system backmost connected way and enactment discussions connected independence.
“We request to find a mode out. We haven’t spoken to each different for years, since the [independence] referendums. Now we’re talking again. Everyone is alert of what’s astatine stake,” Ponga said.
New Caledonia is simply a territory of France which lies successful the Pacific Ocean. Ponga leads the Le Rassemblement enactment which wants to support New Caledonia wrong France.
“Being president wasn’t needfully what I wanted. But I was appointed to lick problems. I instrumentality them 1 by one, without immoderate preconceptions,” said the autochthonal of Kouaoua, a tiny mining colony connected the archipelago’s eastbound coast, wherever helium had been politician since 2014 earlier becoming president this year.
In a wide-ranging interrogation with the Guardian to people the day of the unrest, Ponga discussed the independency debate, economical situation and however to rebuild the captious nickel industry. Ponga besides said New Caledonia tin play a bigger relation successful the region, and hopes to make relationships with partners similar Australia and New Zealand.
The unrest that broke retired successful the archipelago successful May 2024 was sparked by French plans to alteration voting rules and inflamed tensions among Indigenous Kanak communities, who marque up astir 41% of the population. Fourteen people, mostly Kanak, were killed and the riots caused an estimated $2.4bn (€2.2bn) successful damage. The important nickel manufacture and different businesses were severely disrupted and unemployment levels surged. One successful 5 workers mislaid each oregon portion of their income owed to the riots and galore stay unemployed.
Since the unrest broke out, much than 10,000 radical person near the territory. For a portion with a colonisation of astir 270,000, the drain has superior consequences. There is simply a shortage of doctors and nurses, and wellness services are nether terrible stress.
“We each request to look up to our responsibilities for what has happened and look to the future,” Ponga said.
“Even if calm has returned, without existent economical betterment and taxation reforms, we’re dead. That’s what my authorities is going to do,” helium said.
A way toward independency continues to disagreement the colonisation and the governmental speech connected the taxable remains tense.
Under the presumption of the Nouméa Accord, signed successful 1998, Caledonians person had 3 referendums connected independency from France. The referendums held successful 2018, 2020 and 2021 each received “no” votes – but results of the last referendum are disputed by the pro-independence movement.
Manuel Valls, the French Minister for overseas territories, visited Nouméa successful April and May, with the anticipation of reaching an statement betwixt supporters of independency and pro-France figures connected the roadworthy ahead.
Valls near the territory past week without striking a caller deal. Certain proposals were seen arsenic an unfastened doorway to independency and provoked choler from pro-France supporters including Ponga, who took portion successful the important discussions.
Chosen by the enactment of loyalists to France to correspond them, Ponga remains assured successful New Caledonian’s quality to scope an statement successful months ahead.
Ponga says that successful the 1970s, the territory’s elder were each successful agreement. “They wanted to get things moving truthful they could instrumentality complaint of their lives, that was their emancipation strategy. You don’t person to beryllium an independentist to privation to instrumentality work for yourself. I’m not an independentist, but I’m inactive a Kanak.”
“Then the question of independency came on and blocked everything, and since past we’ve spent our clip dancing astir the array without doing anything.”
Reviving a anemic system remains 1 of Ponga’s astir contiguous challenges.
Nickel is the lifeblood of the archipelago’s system yet two of the country’s 3 metallurgical plants stay idle. Nickel produced successful New Caledonia accounts for astir 8% of the world’s reserves, according to a study by the Overseas Institution of Issue (Ieom).
Ponga has a inheritance arsenic an enforcement successful the nickel manufacture and says the territory’s strategy toward this captious reserve has remained static and lacked flexibility.
“If we privation to bring backmost investors, we’re going to person to recreate the conditions of attractiveness. And that won’t beryllium imaginable without France,” helium said.
To tally the country’s affairs during his word of office, Ponga intends to trust connected “the 3 values I taught my children: work, enactment and work”.
The president often refers to the onshore wherever helium grew up, his roots. He proudly displays connected his telephone photos of his banana, yam and murphy fields, wherever helium and his children proceed to work.
He besides sees an accidental for New Caledonia’s power successful the region.
“We person an important relation to play,” helium asserts, erstwhile erstwhile loyalist presidents were not precise keen connected opening up to the region.
“We’ve neglected the Pacific and our Melanesian neighbours excessively much. Yet New Zealand, Australia and France are partners, and we request to instrumentality vantage of these links to make our ain axes of relationship, doing things astatine our ain level.”
“We request to presume our responsibilities and task ourselves forward.”
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