New Caledonia’s Union Calédonienne, one of the main and oldest components of the pro-independence movement, has elected Emmanuel Tjibaou as its new president at the weekend.
The election was one of the main items of the agenda of UC’s Congress, which was held in the small village of Mia (near Canala, East Coast of the main island of Grande Terre).
Tjibaou, 48, was the only candidate for the position.
Tjibaou’s election on Sunday comes as UC’s former leader, Daniel Goa, 71, announced last week he did not intend to seek another mandate, partly for health reasons, after leading the party for the past 12 years.
Goa told his pro-independence supporters this was a “heavy burden” his successor will now have to carry.
He also said there was a need to work on political awareness and training for the younger generations.
He said the youths’ heavy involvement in the recent riots, not necessarily within the UC’s political framework, was partly caused by “all these years during which we did not train (UC) political commissioners” on the ground.
“This has been completely neglected,”” he told local media at the weekend, saying this was his mea culpa.
After the riots started, there was a perception that calls coming from all political parties, including UC, were no longer heeded and that, somehow, the whole insurrection had gotten out of control.
“Now we need to open (UC) to the youth. Now we got the message they have sent us”, he said.
Tjibaou was also elected earlier this year as one of New Caledonia’s two representatives within the French National Assembly (Lower House).
Tjibaou’s rise to the helm of UC comes as New Caledonia’s whole pro-independence movement is deeply divided.
Last week, two of the main components of the 40-year-old FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front), the more moderate UPM (Progressist Union in Melanesia) and PALIKA (Kanak Liberation Party), reiterated they wished to distance themselves from the Front.
They said they did not recognise themselves anymore in the way the UC has been operating since last year and more recently since insurrectional riots broke out in May 2024, causing extensive damage and 13 dead.
UPM and PALIKA did not take part in the most recent FLNKS Congress, late August 2024, which, among other resolutions, appointed Christian Téin as its new President.
Téin is the leader of a UC-created CCAT (Field Action Coordinating Cell) which, since October 2023, has been tasked to organise protests, marches and demonstrations.
Initially organised peacefully, they later degenerated into the riots and destruction that broke out in May 2024.
Téin is currently jailed in Mulhouse (North-east of France) following his arrest in June and pending his trial.
Emmanuel Tjibaou is perceived as a man of dialogue and moderation and his election at the head of UC could also signal a gradual softening of the party’s hard-line stance, which could contribute to a more united approach from New Caledonia’s whole pro-independence movement.
The development comes as New Caledonia, post-riot, faces a whole array of challenges.
These include the French territory’s reconstruction and the necessary multi-billion Euro assistance from France, but also crucial political talks that are likely to start in December between all political parties and the French government in order to map out the political future.
The talks (between pro-independence, anti-independence parties and the French State) are scheduled in such a way that all parties manage to reach a comprehensive and inclusive political agreement no later than March 2025.
Over the past few days, earlier this month, from Paris to Nouméa, several references have been made with regards to what shape New Caledonia’s future status could take.
Such wordings as “shared sovereignty”, “independence in partnership”, “independence-association” and, more recently, from the also divided pro-France camp, an “internal federalism” (Le Rassemblement-LR party) or a “territorial federation” (Les Loyalistes).
After this, heavy campaigning will follow to prepare for crucial provincial elections to be held no later than November 2024.
Tjibaou is the son of charismatic pro-independence leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou, who signed the Matignon-Oudinot agreements with pro-France leader Jacques Lafleur and the French government in 1988, to end half a decade of a quasi-civil war.
One year later, in 1989, he was shot dead by a hard-line pro-independence militant.
