2024-05-30 11:47:09
The unrest in New Caledonia has turn out to be one of the critical crises of Macron’s presidency.
As Day.Az reviews on Monday, columnist Matthew Campbell wrote about this in his article for the British newspaper The Sunday Instances.
France’s brutal colonial historical past strongly influences its politics immediately, he mentioned.
The creator of the article emphasizes that Paris is simply on the lookout for somebody accountable for the failure of its insurance policies, which led to mass protests in New Caledonia.
“France has accused outdoors forces of utilizing previous colonial grievances to foment discontent in a territory of 270,000 individuals scattered throughout 140 islands,” the creator writes, including that Paris was even in a position to monitor social media posts with the hashtag EndFrenchColonialism, allegedly coming from customers in Azerbaijan.
Citing a French diplomatic supply, Campbell famous that this abroad territory is of explicit significance to Paris.
“New Caledonia has 1 / 4 of the world’s reserves of nickel, which is used to make batteries in hybrid vehicles, in addition to cash, armor and turbine blades,” the article says.
Commenting on the French President’s current go to to New Caledonia, the creator mentions that, earlier than returning dwelling 12 hours after conferences with French loyalists and independence supporters, Macron agreed to delay voting reform that may have allowed current arrivals to the territory to vote.
“The anticipated reform of the particular French congress of each homes of parliament in Versailles within the coming days grew to become the set off for the protests.
Native Kanaks, who make up 40 p.c of the inhabitants and have the appropriate to vote in French and European elections, feared that granting voting rights to immigrants would scale back the voting energy of natives and create difficulties on the trail to independence.
Approaching the battle from a historic perspective, Campbell emphasised that the roots of the battle go deep into historical past. In keeping with him, within the early nineteenth century, the realm attracted solely whalers and slave merchants, and native Kanaks had been kidnapped or captured.
“At present the territory is extra deeply divided than ever between the Kanaks, who’re demanding a second vote within the hope of secession from France, and the white settlers, the Caldos (French-speaking individuals of European descent), who need to stay a part of France,” it additionally states. article.
Subscribe to our WhatsApp channel and keep updated with the principle information!