From Eloi to Europe: Interactions with the ballot box in New Caledonia

Commonwealth and Comparative Politics

Volumn 43, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 394-418

  Maclellan, Nic ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM; ELECTORAL SYSTEM; HUMAN RIGHTS; PARTY POLITICS; POLITICAL CONFLICT; POLITICAL REFORM; SOCIAL MOVEMENT; VOTING BEHAVIOR;

EURASIA; EUROPE; MELANESIA; NEW CALEDONIA [MELANESIA]; PACIFIC ISLANDS; PACIFIC OCEAN;

NOUMEA;

EID: 33748269092     PISSN: 14662043     EISSN: 17439094     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/14662040500304890     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (66)

1. As a militant independence leader, and secretary-general of the largest pro-independence party in New Caledonia, Machoro was a marked man. Just two months later, on 12 January 1985, he was shot down by police sharpshooters, 'neutralised' on orders from the French high commissioner ('Eloi - la consigne demeure plus que jamais', Bwenando, 1 July 1985).
2. For Fiji, see B. Lal and P. Larmour, Electoral Systems in Divided Societies - The Fiji Constitution Review, Pacific Policy Paper 21 (Canberra: NCDS/ANU, 1997)
3. Robbie Robertson and William Sutherland, Government by the Gun - The Unfinished Business of Fiji's 2000 Coup (Annandale: Pluto, 2001).
4. Recent constitutional developments in Fiji have been studied by academics in New Caledonia. See for example Marion Bastogi, 'Le gouvernement des iles Fidji: Une institution proche de l'exécutif calédonien', Revue juridique, politique et économique de Nouvelle Calédonie, 3/1 (2004), 39.
5. For details, see N. Maclellan, 'Building the Mwâ Kâ: Conflict and Reconciliation in New Caledonia', Discussion Paper 2005/1, State, Society and Governance in Melanesia project, Australian National University, 2005.
6. A. Christnacht: La Nouvelle-Calédonie (Paris: Documentation française, 2004).
7. For detailed investigation of this history, see (in English) J. Connell, New Caledonia or Kanaky? - The Political History of a French Colony (Canberra: ANU, 1987)
8. Robert Aldrich, France in the South Pacific since 1940 (London: MacMillan, 1993)
9. Nic Maclellan and Jean Chesneaux, After Moruroa - France in the South Pacific (New York and Melbourne: Ocean Press, 1998).
10. For the French literature, see EDIPOP, Contribution a l'histoire du pays Kanak (Noumea: Editions IKS, 1984)
11. J. Lafleur, L'assiégé - 25 ans de vie politique (Paris: Plon, 2000)
12. Jean-Marie Tjibaou, La Présence Kanak (Paris: Editions Odile Jacob, 1996)
13. J. Chesneaux and N. Maclellan, La France dans le Pacifique (Paris: Editions la Decouverte, 1992)
14. J. Freyss, Economie assisté et changement sociale en Nouvelle Calédonie (Paris: Presse universitaire de France, 1995)
15. A. Bensa, Nouvelle Calédonie - un paradis en tourmente (Paris: Decouvertes Gallimard, 2003).
16. After lobbying by the Pacific Islands Forum, the UN General Assembly voted to reinscribe New Caledonia on the list of non-self-governing territories in UNGA Resolution 41/41 of 2 December 1986 which 'affirms the inalienable right of the people of New Caledonia to self-determination and independence in accordance with resolution 1514 (XV)'.
17. Clause 4 of the Preamble to the Noumea Accord states: 'Decolonisation is the way to rebuild a lasting social bond between the communities living in New Caledonia today, by enabling the Kanak people to establish new relations with France, reflecting the realities of our time', Préambule, Accord de Nouméa, 5 May 1998.
18. For discussion, see J.-Y. Faberon, 'La Nouvelle Calédonie et la révision constitutionelle de mars 2003 sur l'organisation décentralisée de la République', Revue juridique, politique et économique de Nouvelle Calédonie, 1/1 (2003), 3.
19. As at May 2005, the National Assembly members are Rassemblement UMP deputies Jacques Lafleur (since 1979) and Pierre Frogier (since 1996) and the Rassemblement UMP Senator Simon Loueckhote.
20. F. Audigier, 'L'affaire de la grotte d'Ouvea et l'élection présidentielle de 1988', in J.-M. Regnault (ed.), François Mitterrand et les territories français du Pacifique 1981-1988 (Paris: Les Indes Savantes, 2003).
21. For examples of 2003 protests over Chirac's role in the 1988 Ouvea crisis, see Maclellan, 'Building the Mwâ Kâ'.
22. The concept of 'the victims of history' was invoked at the 1983 round-table at Nainville-les-Roches in France, where pro- and anti-independence leaders jointly agreed that all residents of New Caledonia - indigenous and non-indigenous - have a part to play in building the country's future. For some Kanaks, this is a compromise on the principle that the indigenous people alone have the right to self-determination.
23. F. Angleviel, 'The Bet on Intelligence - Politics in New Caledonia 1988-2002', Discussion Paper 2003/4, State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Project, ANU, 2003.
24. For details, see special edition of the cultural journal Mwà Vée, 'L'indigénat, 50 ans après, 1887-1946', Mwà Vée, 15 Jan. 1997.
25. I. Kurtovich, 'L'accession des mélanésiens à la citoyenneté française en 1946', Revue juridique, politique et économique de Nouvelle Calédonie, 2/2 (2003), 34
26. I. Kurtovich, Aux origines du FLNKS - l'UICALO at l'AICLF 1946-1953 (Noumea: Ile de Lumiere, 1997)
27. M. Lenormand, L'evolution politique des autochtones de la Nouvelle Calédonie (Paris: Société des Océanistes, 1954).
28. For information in English pre-1984, see M. Dornoy, Politics in New Caledonia (Sydney: Sydney University Press, 1984).
29. For debates on the difference between indigenous Kanaks, non-indigenous Caledonians (Caldoche and islander) and metropolitan French (metros or zozos), see Etre Caldoche aujourd'hui (Noumea: Ile de Lumière, 1994).
30. N. Maclellan, 'The Noumea Accord and Decolonisation in New Caledonia', Journal of Pacific History, 34/3 (1999) p. 245. The RPCR was renamed Rassemblement UMP in 2001.
31. Government members must be New Caledonian citizens and registered voters. They do not have to be members of a provincial assembly or the Congress, but can be appointed by Congress from the general community. If a member of the government holds a seat in the assemblies, Congress, Economic or Social Council or regular military forces, he or she must resign that post, but can resume it on leaving the government. The place of a member of the government leaving the Congress or Assembly is filled by the next eligible member of that person's electoral list - on resigning or being dismissed from the government, a government member can resume their original seat in Congress or Assembly, with the incoming deputy losing their seat. This has occurred with a number of people who entered and left the government in 1999-2004, such as Rock Wamytan; in 2001, the first President of New Caledonia under the new laws, RPCR politician Jean Leques, decided he would return to his post as Mayor of Noumea rather than continue in government.
32. A court case in June 2004 before the Administrative Tribunal in Noumea ruled that the voting for President required an absolute rather than simple majority, thus 6 of 11 members. 'Le nouveau gouvernement calédonien élu aujourd'hui', Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes (Noumea), 23 June 2004.
33. List proportional representation was adopted for territorial elections in New Caledonia in 1952, replacing the previous two round or double ballot systems: See M. Dornoy, Politics in New Caledonia (Sydney: Sydney University Press, 1984), 163.
34. Legal, constitutional and cultural issues are discussed in J.Y. Faberon and Y. Gautier, Identité, nationalité, citoyenneté outre-mer (Paris: Centre des Hautes Etudes sur l'Afrique et l'Asie Modernes, 1999)
35. and F. Garde, Les institutions de la Nouvelle Calédonie (Paris: L'Harmattan, 2001).
36. For detailed results of the November 1998 referendum, see N. Maclellan, 'Voters say yes to Noumea Accords', Islands Business (Suva), Dec. 1998, 30-32.
37. The concept of 'irreversibility' is to stop governments in Paris from reclaiming the transferred authority, after a change of government - as has occurred with autonomy statutes for the Pacific territory of French Polynesia.
38. Accord de Nouméa, 4.
39. Some pro-independence parties, such as the now-defunct Front Uni de Libération Kanak (FULK) refused to enter the 'colonial institutions' created by the 1988 Matignon Accords, and tensions within the FLNKS contributed to the deaths of Kanak leaders Jean-Marie Tjibaou and Yeiwene Yeiwene in May 1989, killed while visiting Ouvea to mark the anniversary of the massacre of 19 Kanak activists during the Ouvea crisis of 1988.
40. For example, in April 2004, Jacques Lafleur (then leader of the conservative Rassemblement UMP party) told its congress that a scheduled referendum on self-determination will not happen in 2014. Lafleur told the meeting: 'No one will want to go to the referendum... Independence has now become just a word, a dream ... So why not let the people dream, why not let them have the feeling that they have not lost, but that we have all won together?' Pacnews, 20 April 2004.
41. Organic Law No.99-209 of 19 March 1999 relating to New Caledonia, published in the Journal Officiel de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, 24 March 1999, 1182-210.
42. Candidates for New Caledonia's two seats in the French National Assembly and one seat in the French Senate can stand in whichever province they wish.
43. 'Corps électoral provincial: Les exclus ont perdu leur combat juridique', Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes (Noumea), 13 Jan. 2005.
44. Institut Territorial de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques, 'Note sur les chiffres de la population en Nouvelle-Calédonie' (Noumea: ITSEE, Aug. 1996).
45. Decision no.99-410 DC, 15 March 1999. The court evaluates whether laws passed by the French parliament are in accordance with the French constitution.
46. 'Question of ethnicity causes census delay', Radio Australia interview with Gerard Baudchan, Director of ITSEE (the Territorial Office for Statistics and Economic Studies in Noumea), Pacific Beat, Radio Australia, 29 July 2003.
47. See also 'Document sur un recensement interrompu', Revue juridique, politique et économique de Nouvelle Calédonie, 3/1 (2004), 87.
48. 'Groups threaten boycott of census', Pacific Beat, Radio Australia, 3 Sept. 2004.
49. Analysis of the 400 cadres programme and the economic results of the Matignon Accord are found in G. David, D. Guillaud and P. Pillon, La Nouvelle-Calédonie à la croisée des chemins 1989-1997 (Noumea: Société des Océanistes/ORSTOM, 1999).
50. Institut Territorial de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques, New Caledonia - Facts and Figures (Noumea: ITSEE, 2000), Section 10.3 - 'Working Population in Employment'. Europeans outnumber Kanaks in virtually all professional and trade categories with the exception of farmers and unskilled labourers. The only exception in the 'intermediate professions' is clergy and religious workers, where Kanaks are nearly double the number of Europeans!
51. Article 192, 2nd alinea, Organic law of 10 March 1999 as amended in 2000.
52. Report of Pacific Parliamentary Retreat, Centre for Democratic Institutions, Brisbane, Australia, 3-7 Dec. 2001. New Caledonia delegates included Bianca Henin, Nicole Waia and Robert Paouta Naxue.
53. For interviews with Nicole Waia, then a member of New Caledonia's Congress and Dewe Gorode, Vice President, Government of New Caledonia, see 'Parity Law supports Women in Politics', Pacific Beat, Radio Australia, 5 April 2004.
54. In the Southern Province, a united list was created, headed by then FLNKS President Rock Wamytan, with candidates from the Union Calédonienne (UC), Palika and the Wallisian party Rassemblement Démocratique Océanienne (RDO). In the north and the Loyalty Islands however, unified tickets could not be agreed, and the FLNKS ticket was effectively made up of UC members. The second largest FLNKS member Palika ran candidates as part of the Union Nationale d'Indépendance (UNI). There were also lists from smaller parties such as Union Progréssiste Mélanésienne (UPM) in the North, and FULK and LKS in the Loyalty Islands. The Islands Province also saw an Indépendance et Progrès ticket, supported by members of the trade union confederation USTKE.
55. As well as the major conservative parties and the National Front, Wallisians were courted by the Rassemblement Démocratique Océanienne (RDO) led by Aloisio Sako ran as part of the UNI-FLNKS; Union Océanienne (UO, 749 votes); Rassemblement océanien dans la Calédonie (ROC, 429 votes); and Mouvement des Citoyens Calédoniens (MCC, 1,140 votes) led by Tino Manuhoalalo, who resigned from the RDO and FLNKS after losing a ministerial post.
56. Mapou, the former mayor of Yate who has been in Palika and FCCI, is a leading member the Rheebu Nuu committee, which unites chiefs and landowners in the Southern Province who are campaigning around the social, environmental and economic impacts of the Goro nickel plant, a project under construction by the Canadian nickel corporation Inc.
57. For the independence parties, the Southern Province results were: UNI (2,530 votes), Roch Wamytan's FLNKS pour l'indépendance (2,098 votes), Union calédonienne (1,848 votes), Patrimoine et environnement (861 votes) and FCCI (426 votes).
58. 'Lafleur back in business by popular demand', Oceania Flash, 5 April 2004.
59. 'Le nouveau gouvernement caléedonien élu aujourd'hui', Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes (Noumea), 23 June 2004
60. Government fails to elect President', Pacific Beat, Radio Australia, 25 June 2004.
61. For a detailed study of the impact of EU membership in New Caledonia, see Maclellan and Chesneaux, After Moruroa, Chapter 11, 'France Caught between Europe, Global Markets and the Great Ocean'.
62. 'Elections Européeenes - Circonscription Outre-mer', 14 June 2004 (Press release from France's overseas ministry). Turnouts in the other Pacific territories were higher, with 43.07 per cent in Wallis and Futuna and 39.85 per cent in French Polynesia.
63. 'Calls for abstention on EU referendum', Pacific Beat, Radio Australia, 18 May 2005.
64. European Commission, 'The European Union and the Overseas Countries and Territories', Development DE99, Dec. 1998.
65. P. Maurice, 'Du franc CFP à l'Euro', Revue juridique, politique et économique de Nouvelle Calédonie, 3/1 (2004).
66. For examples of post-conflict cultural initiatives, church-led reconciliation process, and the role of non-government organisations, see N. Maclellan, 'Building the Mwâ Kaâ'.