[ad_1]
Melanesian Spearhead Group flag
photo: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony
Leaders of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) have called on France to allow a joint UN-MSG delegation to New Caledonia to assess the political situation and propose solutions to the current crisis.
Leaders of the sub-regional grouping from Fiji, FLNKS, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu met on the sidelines of the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM10) in Tokyo to discuss New Caledonia specifically.
They include Fiji’s Rabuka, Papua New Guinea’s James Marape, Solomon Islands’ Jeremiah Manele and Vanuatu’s Charlotte Salwai.
They issued the Tokyo Declaration, expressing concern about the “continued fragile security situation” and strongly objecting to the “clear militarization” of French territory since May 13.
The leaders said the French National Assembly’s adoption of a constitutional bill to “unfreeze” the electoral roll for New Caledonia’s provincial elections “led to the subsequent massacre.”
“We call on France to allow a joint UN-MSG delegation to visit New Caledonia to assess the political and socio-economic situation and propose a mutual and amicable solution to the situation in New Caledonia,” they said.
They also agreed to discuss the situation in New Caledonia at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Summit (PIFLM53) next month and proposed “sending at least one MSG member to visit New Caledonia as part of the Forum delegation”.
Last month, French ambassador to the Pacific Veronique Roger-Lacan told RNZ: Paris meets with Forum troika He said by phone that negotiations were ongoing to hold a meeting with regional leaders as soon as possible or at PIFLM53.
The Melanesian leaders also welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to shelve the constitutional bill before the French parliament, but urged him to formally withdraw it “and make a public statement to create a conducive environment for dialogue”.
Among other things, the MSG leader has asked senior “eminent personalities” in France to participate in facilitating further negotiations, “particularly those involved in the negotiations that led to the Noumea Accord in 1998”.
The leaders also called on France to “hold another self-determination referendum on independence as part of the implementation of the United Nations Fourth Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2021-2030)”. They were “dissatisfied” with New Caledonia’s third referendum, calling it a “forced and unilateral decision by the French government”.
[ad_2]
Source link
