France’s neighbors in the Pacific wanted to accompany New Caledonia plunged into crisis. They did so from Sunday, October 27 to Tuesday, October 29 during an observation mission of the oceanic states of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), a regional cooperation political organization. A visit to Noumea corrupted from start to finish by the French authorities. They attended all the exchanges, following a program that was the subject of tough negotiations between the autonomous government of New Caledonia and Paris.
On Sunday 27 October, a group of four eminent IFJ officials left Apia, the capital of Samoa, for Nouméa. On board the specially chartered plane, due to the lack of a direct line between the two countries, this delegation – called “Troika +” – included three prime ministers, Siaosi Sovaleni (Tonga), who currently chairs the IFJ, Sitiveni Rabuka ( Fiji), Mark Brown (Cook Islands) and Foreign Minister Peter Shanel Agovaka, Solomon Islander.
a visit “very high level, never seen before in New Caledonia”rejoiced the head of the Caledonian Government, the separatist Louis Mapou, who sees this as a sign of the concern aroused in the region by the political, economic and social cataclysm that the archipelago has been going through for more than five months.
“We are here as a family, to discuss issues as a family would”launched Siaosi Sovaleni upon his arrival in Noumea. Respecting the tradition of “hello” to the usual senators, an essential step for any authority that stops in the archipelago, a braided mat was placed, a symbol throughout the Pacific of the word that circulates. Along with the foreign heads of government were the High Commissioner of the Republic, Louis Le Franc, and the French Ambassador for the Pacific, Véronique Roger-Lacan, with one objective: to preserve the image of France in its management of the Caledonian file.
If Paris accepted the organization of the visit, it was on the condition that it be “strictly for information” member states of the forum. There is no doubt that France, which considers the Caledonian issue as an internal matter, must abandon this framework. In particular, to advance in any political field by addressing the future status of the territory, included in the UN list of countries to decolonize.
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