UPDATE - France to declare state of emergency in overseas territory of New Caledonia amid riots

UPDATES DEATH TOLL AFTER 1 WOUNDED POLICE OFFICER SUCCUMBS TO INJURIES, REVISES DECK

By Nur Asena Erturk

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday decided to declare a state of emergency in the overseas territory of New Caledonia amid riots there.

Macron held a crisis meeting of defense and national security in the morning and decided to declare a state of emergency, according to a statement issued by the French presidency.

“All violence will be intolerable and will be subjected to a relentless response to ensure that the republican order is restored,” the statement said.

At least three people died in the riots that started in New Caledonia on Monday after the members of the French National Assembly adopted a constitutional reform on voting rules, according to broadcaster RFI.

A police officer, who was severely wounded in the riots succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday, broadcaster BFMTV reported.

The constitutional reform was adopted with 351 lawmakers voting in favor and 153 against.

Local officials announced that schools would remain closed as tensions rose on the island, with protesters looting shops and setting vehicles on fire.

The constitutional reform will allow an increase in the number of voters on the island by around 25,000 people, including French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years. Pro-independence leaders fear that this bill would diminish the indigenous Kanak people’s votes who are already a minority.

Kanaks represent 41.2% of the New Caledonian population, according to a 2019 figure given by France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.

After its adoption in the National Assembly, the reform still needs to have three-fifths of the lawmakers’ and senators’ votes, who will gather before the end of June, unless the local pro-independence groups and loyalist groups agree on a better text.

The archipelago was annexed by France in 1853 and became the country's overseas territory in 1946. The 1980s were marked by riots for independence.

In 2006, the French parliament voted in favor of restricting French citizens’ voting rights in New Caledonia, one of Kanaks’ goals.

Independence was rejected in the first referendum in 2018, and the second in 2020. The third referendum in 2021 was boycotted by the pro-independence groups who claimed that it should have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 90% of the voters chose to remain as part of France, a result that the pro-independence groups rejected.