PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron decided Monday to suspend the emergency state in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia in a measure aimed at allowing political dialogue after the riots that left seven dead and a trail of destruction, his office said.
The president’s office said in a statement that the state of emergency will not be extended “for now” and will therefore end at 8pm on Monday in Paris, and at 5am on Tuesday in New Caledonia.
The decision aims to “enable meetings of the various components” of the pro-independence movement FLNKS, Kanak and the Socialist National Liberation Front, and allow elected officials and other local leaders “in a position to call” for the lifting of the barricades to go there and meet with protesters, the statement said.
Macron has repeatedly pushed for the removal of protesters’ barricades with leaders on both sides of New Caledonia’s bitter divide – the indigenous Kanaks, who want independence, and pro-Paris leaders, who do not.
In the statement, he insisted that it is “the necessary condition for the opening of concrete and serious negotiations”.
Macron’s decision comes after he traveled Thursday to New Caledonia.
The statement states that 480 additional police officers will arrive on the archipelago “in the coming hours”, bringing security reinforcements to more than 3,500. The seven people killed in shootings include two police officers.
A state of emergency was imposed by Paris on May 15 for at least 12 days to increase police powers. Emergency measures give authorities greater powers to combat violence, including the possibility of house arrest for people considered a threat to public order and expanded powers to carry out searches, seize weapons and restrict movements, with possible prison sentences for offenders.
This month’s unrest erupted when the French legislature in Paris debated amending the French constitution to make changes to voter lists in New Caledonia.
The leader of a pro-independence party in New Caledonia on Saturday appealed to supporters “remain mobilized” across the French Pacific archipelago and “maintain resistance” against the Paris government’s efforts to impose electoral reforms that the indigenous Kanak people fear will further marginalize them.
Christian Tein, leader of the pro-independence party known as the Field Action Coordination Unit, addressed supporters and protesters in a video message posted on social media.
In a separate statement, Kanak and the Socialist National Liberation Front called on Macron to withdraw the electoral reform law if France wants to “end the crisis”.
New Caledonia became French in 1853 under Emperor Napoleon III, Napoleon’s nephew and heir. It became an overseas territory after World War II, with French citizenship granted to all Kanaks in 1957.
