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In April 2024, the youths protested peacefully.
photo: RNZ Pacific/Lydia Lewis
New Zealand should join other countries in calling for New Caledonia’s third independence referendum to be invalidated, a founder of the Kanaky Aotearoa Solidarity Network says.
It follows The 10th Pacific Islands Leaders’ Meeting (PALM10) Last week in Tokyo, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters called for a Pacific Islands Forum Facilitating mediation On French territory.
Kanak population in December 2021 Boycott the referendum They came out to mourn those who have died during the coronavirus pandemic after their calls for a delay to the referendum were ignored.
As a result, Peters said the referendum result led to a significant drop in turnout, with nearly 97% of voters voting against independence.
“In the eyes of independents and at least some neutral observers, a turnout of only 44 percent made the election result illegitimate.”
David Small of Kanaky Aotearoa Unity said Peters should ally himself with the Melanesian Spearhead, which Call for UN mission Travel to New Caledonia.
“He said a third referendum would be illegal in the eyes of some people and would not include New Zealand,” Mr Small said.
“It would be better if he did that because a third referendum is untenable.”
The group said Peters had mentioned the need for dialogue but failed to provide a clear path or goal.
“Kanak Aotearoa Solidarity is deeply disappointed by Peters’ lack of support for the struggle of the Kanak people.
“His statement at PALM10 represents a missed opportunity for New Zealand to demonstrate its commitment to justice and self-determination for all peoples of the Pacific.”
Foreign Minister Winston Peters addresses the New Zealand China Council during the AUKUS debate.
photo: NICK MONRO, New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation
Roger Lacan says “false information breeds”
However, France’s top diplomat to the Pacific, Véronique Roger-Lacan, said she assured Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders attending PALM10 that France acted fairly in the third and final independence referendum.
Roger Larcan spoke to New Zealand’s Pacific Radio in Tokyo after talks with leaders of Papua New Guinea and Tonga.
She said there was “too much misinformation” surrounding the New Caledonia issue and Pacific leaders were only hearing one side of the story.
“For example, Marc Brown sent a letter to President Louis Mapou, but he made no attempt to contact France, which kind of ignores the fact that New Caledonia belongs to France until further notice,” she said.
“We tried calling them but Mark Brown was not there and would not answer the phone.
“But luckily the Prime Minister of Tonga, the new chairperson of the Pacific Islands Forum and everybody else were there so everyone was very happy to hear the information we had.
“We will provide all the information in writing because it seems that everyone is ignoring the reality of the problem and everyone is completely deceived by the false information and propaganda about the New Caledonia problem.”
Véronique Roger-Lacan, France’s top diplomat in the Pacific, said there was a lot of “disinformation and propaganda”.
photo: Associated Press/Nicholas Jobe
Mission to New Caledonia “has made the decision”
Preparations are underway to send a high-level Pacific delegation to investigate the unfolding political crisis, which has left 10 people dead and cost the economy a total of €2.2 billion, according to the outgoing chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown.
“We will now look at how to put this into practice,” Brown told a news conference at the PALM10 conference in Tokyo. “Of course, this requires the support of the French government to proceed with this mission.”
Charles Wea, a spokesman for the New Caledonian president’s office, told RNZ Pacific that a high-level delegation was expected to include leaders from Fiji, the Cook Islands, Tonga and the Solomon Islands.
“The leaders decided when they met in Japan to send a delegation to New Caledonia around the second or third week of August, before the annual Pacific Islands Forum meeting,” he said.
“The purpose of the delegation’s visit is to listen to the views of all parties in New Caledonia and to hold discussions in order to prepare a report for the Tongan leaders’ meeting.”
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