A memorandum of understanding between the Congress of New Caledonia and the Parliament of Azerbaijan, which caused controversy when it was signed in April, must be approved. “shall be considered null and void”said the new president of Congress, Veylma Falaeo, on Monday, October 14.
“The text was signed by Omayra Naisseline [une élue indépendantiste] that he did not have the mandate to do so”Veylma Falao, a member of the Oceania Awakening party and elected president at the end of August, replacing the pro-independence Roch Wamytan, explained in a press conference.
METROme Naisseline (Caledonian Union) had signed on behalf of the Congress President a “memorandum” sealing cooperation between the Caledonian deliberative assembly and its Azerbaijani equivalent, the Milli Majlis. An unconcerted initiative that has caused outrage in the archipelago because this oil and gas state, located on the shores of the Caspian Sea, is led by the authoritarian president Ilham Aliev.
Consequently, the text “should be considered null and void”declared the president of the institution that convened the local elected officials “look to the future and to the reconstruction of the territory”affected by five months of violence that has left thirteen dead and several billion euros in damage since May.
“Extremely harmful interference”
The trip to Azerbaijan by several separatist elected officials in April generated lively controversy in the archipelago, with the Baku regime at odds with Paris, which accuses it of interference in French overseas territories.
The non-independence groups Les Loyalists and Rassemblement-Les Républicains then denounced an agreement “not having been the subject of any consultation”with a country that has “Guilty of horrible crimes against his own population”.
Gérald Darmanin, then Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories, appeared before the Legal Commission of the National Assembly “extremely harmful interference” from the country of the Caucasus to New Caledonia.
Roch Wamytan “took note of the cancellation of the memorandum of understanding”, but at the same time he denounced the desire to “the radicalized local right will take advantage of every opportunity to prevent countries from supporting us in our fight”remembering that the text “it was limited to declarations of intent regarding parliamentary cooperation” and that fourteen similar agreements had been signed with assemblies in other countries.
