Former President of New Caledonia Thierry Santa has resigned as a minister from the government led by current President Alcide Ponga (who also succeeded Santa as president of New Caledonia’s historic anti-independence party Rassemblement – Les Républicains).
Announcing his resignation, Santa said: “I am stopping all political activity, even as a party member… I am not sick, I am not moving to Tahiti, I get along very well with Alcide Ponga. This is really a desire to return to civilian professional life.”
Soon after gaining office in 2019, Santa attended his first Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu. Speaking to
Islands Business in Funafuti at the time, Santa talked about New Caledonia’s regional integration and shared interests on climate and biodiversity.
After just two years as president, Santa’s five-year term was cut short in February 2021, when independence ministers resigned and brought down his government. The crisis came at a critical time after two referendums on self-determination in 2018 and 2020.
In early November 2021, mid-pandemic, France announced it would rush through New Caledonia’s third referendum on self-determination in December. Santa told me this decision was influenced by the announcement of the AUKUS agreement in September.
After Australia breached the $90 billion(US$58 billion) contract with France for submarine construction by Naval Group, Santa told Islands Business “It’s absolutely certain that the ripping up of the submarine contract by Australia and the United States has influenced France’s attitude towards New Caledonia”
“I think that for a long time, France was relying heavily on its relationship with Australia to strengthen the Indo-Pacific axis. The fact that Australia has turned its back on the submarine contract has really made France realise that it’s on its own in the Pacific territories.”
Santa held multiple portfolios in the Ponga government, responsible for the budget, financial accounts, disability, the civil service and relations with the Congress of New Caledonia.
He will be replaced by Naïa Wateou, a rising voice in the conservative anti-independence bloc.
