By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk
New Caledonia’s pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) has put in a late request to join talks on the territory’s future remotely.
The meeting, convened by French President Emmanuel Macron, is calling all politicians from the French Pacific territory back to the negotiating table.
The FLNKS said earlier this week it would not travel to Paris for the “make or break” roundtable.
However, as the meeting approached, FLNKS officials advised that they had also made a last-minute proposal to the French President’s office that — instead of travelling to Paris — they could take part in the talks remotely by videoconference.
The offer was conveyed in a letter to the President, FLNKS official and Union Calédonienne secretary general Dominique Fochi confirmed to public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la 1ère yesterday.
But even though Macron’s advisors acknowledged receipt of the FLNKS message, it is not known whether he would entertain the last-minute request.
“We treated FLNKS fairly, just like the other political groups”, one of Macron’s advisers said, adding that “even in the visible absence of FLNKS” they believe it is “still worth moving forward”.
More direct
During question time in Parliament on Wednesday, Minister for Overseas Naïma Moutchou’s words were more direct.
Referring to the FLNKS absence, she said: “We will not accept that, due to the absence of some, New Caledonians would be held hostage.
“Nobody has a right of veto on the territory of New Caledonia,” she told MPs in the National Assembly.
The meeting follows talks held in July 2025 that led to the signing of an agreement project since dubbed the Bougival Text.
The project agreement intended to pave the way for the creation of a “state of New Caledonia” within France and its correlated “New Caledonian nationality”, as well as the gradual transfer of more powers from France to its Pacific territory.
But just a few days later, on 9 August 2025, the FLNKS, the main component in New Caledonia’s pro-independence Kanak movement, denounced the Bougival text, saying it was a “lure” of independence.
More details from Macron’s entourage
On Wednesday, Macron’s entourage (including his closest advisers) also provided some information on the meeting’s format and the fact that they believed pursuing the talks was “still worth it”, “without a passage en force”, but “without paralysing (New Caledonia) either”, because “expectations from New Caledonia’s population are high”.
The initial roundtable at the French Presidential office, in the form of a plenary session was announced to take place on January 16 in the afternoon (Paris time), with officials in attendance including President Macron, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Speakers of both Houses of Parliament Gérard Larcher (Senate) and Yaël Braun-Pivet (National Assembly), as well as Minister for Overseas Moutchou.
New Caledonia’s politicians would then split into several workshops for the whole weekend, each focusing on a specific theme, including New Caledonia’s economic recovery, the indigenous Kanak people’s identity and recognition, the process of transferring powers from France to New Caledonia, and the notion of self-determination.
One of the workshops would also focus on an offer made in December 2025 by French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu — a financial assistance recovery package of over 2 billion euros (NZ$4 bilion) over a period of five years.
The expected outcome would be a final document containing additions and amendments to the July 2025 text.
Scrap the name of ‘Bougival’
One notable feature would also be that the name “Bougival” should eventually disappear in the final version of the expected agreement, which it is hoped would be presented on Monday, January 19.
“What we sometimes observe in certain cases is that this agreement of July 12, known as the Bougival agreement, had become, by its very name, an obstacle to moving forward”, one president’s adviser admitted.
“We will see during the discussion that will begin on Friday whether it is appropriate to give a new name to the agreement of July 12 to better represent the feelings of all parties,” the Élysée concluded.
It was also expected, should the new text be allowed to progress, that a constitutional amendment would later be endorsed by the French Congress (which is made up of both Houses of Parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate).
A consultation of New Caledonia’s population by a de facto referendum on the framework blueprint would also be re-activated, presidential sources told French national media.
This referendum-like consultation was put on hold in December 2025, due to delays and an expected lack of parliamentary support.
The date of New Caledonia’s crucial provincial elections (currently scheduled for no later than 28 June 2026) could once again be postponed to September.
Those local elections were originally planned to take place in May 2024 and since then have been re-scheduled three times.
From the Macron entourage’s point of view, with five out of six New Caledonian political groups in attendance in Paris this week, “there is a possibility to bring about an agreement that would gather, if everyone signs, 75 percent of New Caledonia’s Congress members”.
75.9 percent support at local Congress
In New Caledonia’s Parliament (Congress), apart from the FLNKS (which currently holds 13 of the 54 seats, 24.08 percent), the other political parties who support the Bougival project total 41 MPs (75.9 percent).
New Caledonia’s other parties (both pro-independence and pro-France) who signed the Bougival document all resolved to honour their signatures and to continue defending it.
In the pro-independence camp, apart from a FLNKS now dominated by Union Calédonienne, two parties now regarded as “moderate” are supporting the Bougival process: PALIKA (Kanak Liberation Party) and UPM (Progressist Union in Melanesia).
They split from the FLNKS, citing profound differences.
PALIKA and UPM are now formed into a Congress caucus totalling 12 MPs.
They believe within the Bougival project framework, their goal of full sovereignty remains achievable in the middle run.
However, even though they signed the document in July 2025, they have consistently voiced some reservations and sought more clarifications and possible amendments.
This regarded, for instance, questions as to how the envisaged transfers of powers would legally take place.
Apart from the pro-independence camp (FLNKS and UNI), the other parties, on the pro-France side, are Eveil Océanien-Calédonie Ensemble — now merged into one single Congress caucus of 8 MPs — Rassemblement (6) and Les Loyalistes (13).
Economy still reeling
During the Paris talks today, a significant part is also scheduled to focus on New Caledonia’s economic recovery and French assistance.
New Caledonia was engulfed in civil unrest in May 2024, leading to the death of 14 people, more than 2 billion euros in damage, thousands left jobless and a drop of 13.5 percent in the French territory’s GDP.
Last month, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu mooted a plan totalling over €2 billion over a five-year period to help the French Pacific territory’s recovery.
But the plan would also involve, beyond five years, that France should cease funding areas and powers that had already been transferred to local authorities over the past 20 years, under the previous 1998 Nouméa autonomy Accord.
Meanwhile, the French assistance plans depend on passing the 2026 budget, which has not been endorsed yet by a divided French Parliament with no clear majority.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu survived another two motions of no confidence, tabled respectively by far-right Rassemblement National (RN) and far-left LFI (La France Insoumise, Unbowed France).
The LFI motion received 256 votes in support while the RN document was supported by 142 MPs.
They needed at least 288 votes to trigger the downfall of the French government.
They were both in protest against France’s stance with regards to the signing of the Mercosur free trade agreement between European Union and Latin American countries on January 10.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz
