New Caledonia. Bougival Agreement: Despite FLNKS opposition, Valls launches the "drafting committee"
The Bougival Agreement, signed on July 12 by Manuel Valls, the pro-independence movement and the non-pro-independence movement, provides for a State of New Caledonia enshrined in the French Constitution and a Caledonian nationality.
French Overseas Minister Manuel Valls launched a "drafting committee" in New Caledonia on Thursday to translate the Bougival Agreement on the future of the South Pacific archipelago into constitutional law, despite opposition from the FLNKS , the main independence movement that rejects the agreement.
"I am fully aware of the FLNKS's position. My door is open, but we must move forward," Manuel Valls explained as he opened the meeting in Noumea. Manuel Valls announced a tight schedule to the members of the drafting committee, which is made up of the political delegations that signed the Bougival Agreement - excluding the FLNKS - and the Customary Senate.
Provincial elections postponed until mid-2026"The first essential step is the postponement of the provincial elections to June 2026," the minister said, detailing the planned timetable. A proposed organic law allowing this postponement will be examined at the end of September in the Senate, the upper house of the French Parliament, with promulgation hoped for by mid-October, according to the minister.
Scheduled for May 2024, the crucial provincial elections in the archipelago were postponed first to December 2024, then to November 2025 following last year's riots. The Bougival Agreement pushes them back to mid-2026.
By announcing its withdrawal from the agreement last week, the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) called for the election to be held until November 2025.
A constitutional bill, "essential to create the State of New Caledonia and establish its status in the Constitution" and to organize the local referendum on the Bougival Agreement in February, must be presented "next week to the Council of State," France's highest administrative court, according to Manuel Valls, who expects it to be passed by the Council of Ministers on September 17.
“Illegitimate by nature”On Wednesday, the FLNKS reiterated its refusal to participate in the drafting committee. The Bougival Agreement , signed on July 12 by Manuel Valls, the pro-independence movement, and the anti-independence movement, provides for a state of New Caledonia enshrined in the French Constitution and a Caledonian nationality.
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It was rejected by FLNKS activists, but all other political parties in the region maintained their commitment to the bill. "A drafting committee without the FLNKS is inherently illegitimate," the Field Action Coordination Unit (CCAT), which spearheaded the mobilization against the opening of the electoral system that degenerated into riots last May, said in a statement on Thursday.
The editorial board is due to meet again on Saturday, before the minister leaves.
Le Progrès
