According to the French government, the last time measures of this kind were imposed was in 1985.
The protests that have erupted since last week erupted after a constitutional reform approved by the French Parliament that expanded the right to vote in regional elections to include French people who have lived in the archipelago for more than ten years.
Until then, in addition to indigenous people, this right was only reserved for migrants who had lived in the area since before 1998 and their children. In other words, residents who have arrived from mainland France or elsewhere within the past 25 years are not eligible to participate in local elections.
The French government classifies the exclusion of one in five people from voting as “absurd,” while separatists fear that this measure will ultimately weaken the influence of the indigenous Kanak people, the largest ethnic group in the archipelago, with 41% of its population of 270,000. breeze. Population. The second largest group, at 24%, are of European descent – mostly French.
Opponents of the constitutional reform say it will benefit pro-French politicians and marginalize Kanaks who in the past suffered from strict apartheid policies and discrimination.
Schools and New Caledonia International Airport were closed. In the capital, Noumea, where businesses and vehicles were set on fire, the French administration imposed a curfew.
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