Macron in riot-hit New Caledonia for high-stakes talks

French President Emmanuel Macron stands for a minute of silence paying his respects to the victims of deadly clashes during a meeting with New Caledonia's elected officials and local representatives at French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc's residence in Noumea, France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia on May 23, 2024. LUDOVIC MARIN/Pool via REUTERS

By Kirsty Needham and Camille Raynaud

SYDNEY/PARIS (Reuters) -President Emmanuel Macron said police reinforcements in New Caledonia would remain as long as required, after viewing areas worst hit by deadly riots in the French-ruled Pacific island triggered by a contested electoral reform.

Macron's hastily arranged visit to New Caledonia on Thursday comes after six people were killed in riots that have left a trail of looted shops and torched cars and businesses since they began more than a week ago.

"In the coming hours and days, massive new operations will be scheduled where necessary, and republican order in its entirety will be re-established because there is no other choice," Macron said during a meeting with political and business leaders in the capital Noumea.

Roads across the island remained blocked by protester barricades on Thursday, and residents shared advice on social media on safe routes to find food, petrol and medicine.

Macron earlier flew by helicopter over areas devastated by arson, with bulldozers working to clear away rubble. Mayors from these worst-hit suburbs joined Macron's meeting at France's High Commission, along with pro-French and pro-independence leaders.

French President Emmanuel Macron, flanked by France's Minister for the Interior and Overseas France Gerald Darmanin, stands for a minute of silence paying his respects to the victims of deadly clashes during a meeting with New Caledonia's elected officials and local representatives at French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc's residence in Noumea, France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia on May 23, 2024. LUDOVIC MARIN/Pool via REUTERS

With the island under a state of emergency, Macron said additional security totalling 3,000 personnel would remain, even during the Paris Olympics if required.

"I personally believe that the state of emergency should not be extended," he said, adding it would be lifted only when protesters remove the roadblocks.

Protesters fear the electoral reform, already passed by lawmakers in mainland France some 16,000 km (10,000 miles) away, will dilute the votes of indigenous Kanaks, who make up 40% of the island's population of 270,000 people, and make it harder for any future referendum on independence to pass.

French President Emmanuel Macron visits the central police station in Noumea, France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia on May 23, 2024. LUDOVIC MARIN/Pool via REUTERS

As it is a constitutional reform, it requires a meeting of both houses of parliament for it to be ratified and Macron has yet to announce a date for that.

PEACE TOP PRIORITY

Indigenous Kanak political leaders meeting with Macron included the president of New Caledonia's government, Louis Mapou, and the president of its Congress, Roch Wamytan, who was a signatory to a 1998 Noumea Accord that ended a decade of violence by outlining a path to gradual autonomy.

FILE PHOTO: Law enforcement personnel stand guard amid riots against plans to allow more people to take part in local elections in the French-ruled territory, which indigenous Kanak protesters reject, in Noumea, New Caledonia May 16, 2024 in this screengrab obtained from video. Yoan Fleurot/via REUTERS/File Photo

The expiry of the accord in 2021 and a Kanak boycott of an independence referendum held during the COVID-19 pandemic has since created a political impasse.

Before the meeting, the pro-indepedence Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) bloc issued a statement saying it expected Macron to make a strong announcement that could "breathe new life" into dialogue between the accord partners.

Macron said the aim of the meeting, which also includes French loyalist politicians such as Sonia Backes, was to get all parties back around the table.

"Calming down cannot mean turning back the clock. Calming down cannot mean disregarding the popular expression that has already taken place," said Macron, who told reporters a return to peace and security were the top priorities of his trip.

People demonstrate as French President Emmanuel Macron's motorcade drives past in Noumea, France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia on May 23, 2024. LUDOVIC MARIN/Pool via REUTERS

Aides say Macron has no pre-conceived plan and will talk with all parties about reconstruction in the wake of the riots, as well as politics, but is unlikely to rush any major decision.

This may disappoint some local groups, including FLNKS, who want Macron to shelve the electoral reform that Paris says is needed to improve democracy on the island. The Noumea Accord had frozen electoral rolls, and the reform would allow thousands more French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to vote in provincial elections.

FLNKS said Macron must also allow more time for a political agreement on the future of the island to be discussed.

France annexed New Caledonia in 1853 and gave the colony the status of overseas territory in 1946. It is the world's No. 3 nickel miner but the sector is in crisis and one in five residents lives below the poverty threshold.

Thousands of tourists have been stranded by the unrest, with France, Australia and New Zealand organising flights to extract hundreds of people.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham and Renju Jose in Sydney, and Camille Raynaud, Bertrand Boucey, Michel Rose in Paris; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Alison Williams, Sonali Paul and Lincoln Feast.)