New French government offers nothing new to Kanaks
A MAJOR ISSUE in the French elections, the question of
New Caledonia is becoming a test for the new Socialist Party minority government. On the eve of the second round of the presidential elections, the Chirac government staged a massacre of militants of the FLNKS [Kanak Socialist National
Liberation Front] who were holding hostages in a grotto on the
Mitterrand blamed the rightist government for the violence, saying that it was the result of an abandonment of the
"dialogue" that had been the method of the left government from 1981 to 1986. Since the legislative elections, the
NEW CALEDONIA
LANG
HANGE /
I SANY position. There is also mention of pressures coming from Paris from a part of the RPR
Socialist Party government's policy toward New Caledonia seems to have been entangled in its overtures to the bourgeois center.
The following article examines what this is likely to mean for the oppressed native population, the Kanaks.
CLAUDE GABRIEL
ET ANOTHER status for New
Y
Caledonia is going to have to be discussed by the Kanak activists.
Once again in response to a sharpening conflict, the French government has found itself forced to propose a new deal.
Every status has been presented as the best of all possible worlds, one that would open the way for "understanding between the communities" and preserve the interests of
France. Every time, however, the new product has been launched in a blaze of publicity as a big improvement over the preceding ones. That was the story for the solutions previously proposed by Lemoine,
Pisani, Fabius and Pons.]
This time, Michel Rocard's project has been prompted to a considerable extent by the radicalization of the recent Kanak mobilizations. Raising the ante by carrying out an increasing number of resistance actions on the ground and taking hostages on Ouvéa, the FLNKS showed that it had a strong
On every occasion, it is the action of the
FLNKS that has forced the rulers to retreat from certain schemes, to drop certain maneuvers and to come up with new deals.
But when the struggle turns to the negotiating table, that does not mean that the task is any easier. The new relationship of forces on the ground does not necessarily make negotiations any easier. This could already be seen in 1984 in the discussions with
For some months, the Socialists have had the idea of two big regions administered separately under the control of a high commissioner to be set up in the framework of a ten-year plan. There is no doubt that on this point, as on others, there were dealings between the SP and the centrists even before the recent elections.
### Colonist leaders' about-face
Already at the time of the parliamentary debate on the Pons scheme, a part of UDF [Union pour la Démocratie Française, a confederation of bourgeois groups and parties that in general claim to represent a middle-of-the-road position] dragged its feet with respect to the vote. So, it was no surprise that the mission led by Blanc that came back from New Caledonia included a certain Pierre Steinmetz, a collaborator of Raymond Barre [the leader of the UDF].
More surprising, undoubtedly, was the about-face of Lafleur [the leader of the hard right colonist party in New Caledonia, the local affiliate of Jacques Chirac's Rassemblement pour la République — RPRJ. He announced that he might agree to this new administrative division and the formation of a federation. Several interpretations of this turnabout are possible.
There is talk about an economic crisis hitting the services in particular and allegedly forcing the RPCR [the Caledonian affiliate of the RPR] to take a more tactical aimed at getting New Caledonia out of the political game in France itself.
Land question is central
Part of the explanation of Lafleur's about-face at least comes from the ambiguities of the government's pre-project. The perspective is in fact not very clear at the moment, to say the least. Two regions for ten years in the perspective of a new referendum on self-determination. But what is the intention? To offer the Kanaks a chance for real national independence, or to preserve, as always, the interests of France in the region?
An assessment has to be made of the regional autonomy included in the Fabius plan. This policy in no way altered the unevenness of development between Nouméa [the colonialist center] and the interior. Adopting an objective of two regions instead of four is not going to make any miraculous changes in the mechanisms of capitalist colonialism. The question of the credit system and commercial circuits will remain a decisive point.
It remains to be seen also where the "frontier" will be drawn with respect to the nickel mines. There is every reason to think that Lafleur will want to keep these areas in the southern region, which would put the line of demarcation way up in the north.
Finally and most importantly, the land question will have to be considered. The balance sheet of the Rural Development and Planning Agency set up by the Pons 1. The first three plans, those of Lemoine, Pisani and Fabius, were put forward under the left goverment. Bernard Pons was the minister of the overseas territories under Chirac. For the FLNKS leaders Pisani personifies an approach of "dialogue," Pons one of repression. The massacre of FLNKS militants in the frito defender took place under Pons, and he was a 7 fervent defender of it. June 27, 1988 • #144 International Viewpoint
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island of Ouvéa [see IV 141].
NEW CALEDONIA • POLAND plan is disastrous. And in a country like New Caledonia, everything comes back ultimately to the question of the land. Will the Rocard project be bold enough to meet the land demands of the Kanaks? That is highly doubtful.
At the end of the stipulated period there is supposed to be a new situation. Maybe there will be. But Lafleur and his cronies no doubt think that the conditions will be riper then for a real partition of the country, with a still rich south remaining a French territory and a still dependent north, which could claim formal independence. This would be rather reminiscent of the history of the island of Mayotte in the Comores archipelago. Obviously, the Kanaks do not see things the same way. They want all of
It is also possible that Mitterrand will go back to his scheme of a military base at Nouméa. The Kanaks would be independent but with four thousand French troops on their territory. This brings to mind Djibouti, with its naval base available for any French intervention in the region.
New surge of Kanak activism
All of this makes the stakes in the new negotiations quite high and the game will be an intense one. The FLNKS is enjoying a new relationship of forces on the ground, a new surge of activism from its base. This gain will be decisive, much more than the perspective of being able to win a referendum some years in the future because of the higher Kanak birthrate.
For its part, the French government must announce forthrightly what it wants to do - set a timetable for complete independence for the entire territory, or establish a shameful line of demarcation that will lead to a neo-colonialist partition. In no way can satisfaction of the Kanaks' demand depend on a referendum in France. The decision belongs to the Kanaks, and they made it a long time ago.
The FLNKS has to alternate pressure on the ground with negotiation. New Caledonia is not the sort of country that can be seized, especially against one of the main imperialist powers. In their usual way, the Socialists want to defuse the problem, to gain time, without understanding that the main question is the speedy satisfaction of the Kanaks' legitimate demands. In Pisani's time, the government did not do anything more than that, even though it had a parliamentary majority. Nobody can believe that, with the new deal with the center, the Rocard project can be any more
There are, therefore, many pitfalls. It would be a shame if the solidarity movement in France demobilized for lack of a clear view of things, as it did at the time of the Fabius scheme. The Kanaks are not, unfortunately, at the end of their trials. That must never be forgotten. * International Viewpoint #144 • June 27, 1988