A Fijian academic believes Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s failed attempt to garner enough parliamentary support to change the country’s 2013 Constitution “is only the beginning”.

Last week, Rabuka fell short in his efforts to secure the support of three-quarters of the members of Parliament to amend sections 159 and 160 of the constitution.

The prime minister’s proposed amendments also sought to remove the need for a national referendum altogether. While the bill passed its first reading with support from several opposition MPs, it failed narrowly at the second reading.

Video: RNZ Pacific

While the bill passed its first reading with support from several opposition MPs, it failed narrowly at the second reading.

Jope Tarai, an indigenous Fijian PhD scholar and researcher at the Australian National University, told RNZ Pacific Waves that “it is quite obvious that it is not going to be the end” of Rabuka’s plans to amend the constitution.

However, he said that it was “something that might take a while” with less than a year before the 2026 elections.

“So, the repositioning towards the people’s priorities will be more important than constitutional review,” he said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai — who is also Chairman of the Melanesian Spearhead Group — has reaffirmed MSG’s support of the pro-independence umbrella group Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) stance opposing the French government’s constitutional bill “unfreezing” the New Caledonia Electoral Roll.

It is also opposed to the proposed changes to the citizens’ electorate and the changes to the distribution of seats in Congress, reports the Vanuatu Daily Post.

In a statement yesterday, he expressed “sadness” over the “unfortunate happenings that have befallen New Caledonia over the last few days”, referring to the riots sparked by protests over the French law changes.

Salwai expressed support for the FLNKS call for calm, and shared the FLNKS’s condemnation of the violence.

The MSG Chair said in the statement that the indiscriminate destruction of property would affect New Caledonia’s economy in a “very big way” and that would have a “debilitating cascading effect on the welfare and lives of all New Caledonians, including the Kanaks”.

Consistent with the support recorded during the MSG Senior Officials Meeting and the MSG Foreign Ministers Meeting in March this year, Salwai reaffirmed that the French government “must withdraw or annul the Constitutional Bill that has precipitated these regrettable events in New Caledonia”.

“These events could have been avoided if the French government had listened and not proceeded to press forward with the Constitutional Bill aimed at unfreezing the electoral roll, modifying the citizen’s electorate, and changing the distribution of seats in Congress,” the statement said.

“There is [a] need for the French government to return to the spirit of the Noumea Accord in its dealings relating to New Caledonia,” Salwai said.

The MSG Chair added that there was an urgent need now for France to agree to the proposal by the FLNKS to establish a dialogue and mediation mission to discuss a way forward so that normalcy could be restored quickly and an enduring peace could prevail in New Caledonia.

The statement was signed by Salwai and Vanuatu’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Matai Seremaiah.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader.

Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he had resigned along with his deputies.

RNZ Pacific has contacted him for comment.

On Tuesday, while speaking to RNZ Pacific about the referendum on May 29, he opened up about regrets during his time as prime minister.

Kalsakau was elected prime minister in November 2022 after a motion of no confidence was filed against the then Prime Minister Bob Loughman.

There have been a trail of no confidence motions filed since then and two more prime ministers.

“I was so focused on how to change the country, improving Vanuatu’s image. I just didn’t look over my shoulder to see what was happening behind my back.”

‘Learnt his lessons’
He said he has “learnt his lessons” and gone as far as to say “it’s not gonna happen again.

“I will not close my eyes,” he said.

Kalsakau, confirming he was the rightful opposition leader after their were some concerns raised about his appointment recently, said Vanuatu’s upcoming referendum aims to overcome the nation’s persistent political instability.

The government is putting in front of the people two proposed constitutional amendments:

• 17A: Vacation of Seat by Party Member.

Under this amendment if a MP leaves, or is forced to resign from their political party, then their seat will be declared vacant.

• 17B: Vacation of Seat by Independent Member.

This amendment would require those MPs elected as independents to choose a political party within three months of being elected, or their seat will be declared vacant.

While it is a different position to what the former prime minister had when he was in government, he said there was a likelihood he or others, who are not satisfied with the government’s action — or inaction over the planned referendum — could go to the Supreme Court.

“They can take this matter to the Supreme Court, to get it judged there as to whether what the government is proposing at the moment is constitutional,” he said.

He said there was a precedent for such a case.

“In 1988, there has been an Appeal Court judgement, which stipulated, in bold terms, that those fundamental rights are so fundamental to the citizen, that not even a state nor any person, not even a nation, can restrict [them],” he said.

Delaying the referendum
When asked if Vanuatu is ready for the referendum, he replied: “Is any country ever ready for a referendum when it traverses the population only two months prior to the date of the vote?”

He is now asking the government to delay the referendum to give time for public consultation on the matter.

“I am hoping that that wisdom prevails at the end of the day,” Kalsakau said.

“If it doesn’t, either way, it can be an option now or it can be an option, after the amendments processed through the referendum.”

Kalsakau insists he is voting “Yes” in the upcoming referendum and his call for postponement is in the public interest.

The government has told local media a delay is not possible as the process is already underway.

However, the former opposition leader disputes that.

“It’s become a political issue now,” he said on Tuesday.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The French Senate has endorsed a Constitutional review project bearing significant modifications to the local electoral rules for New Caledonia, but with amendments.

The text passed on Tuesday with 233 votes in favour and 99 against.

It aims at modifying the conditions for French citizens to access a special list of voters for the elections in New Caledonia’s three provinces and the Congress.

Since 2007 the electoral roll for those local elections was “frozen”, allowing only people residing in New Caledonia before 1998.

However, the French government and its Home Affairs and Overseas Minister Gérald Darmanin introduced earlier this year a new text for a “sliding” electoral roll allowing citizens who had been residing in New Caledonia for an uninterrupted 10 years to be on the local roll.

The move has been strongly contested by pro-independence parties in New Caledonia, who fear the new rules (which would grant the local vote to up to 25,000 extra voters) will threaten the French Pacific terrotory’s political balance.

During heated debates last week and Tuesday for the vote, Senators sometimes traded robust words, with the left-wing parties (including Socialists and Communists) rallying in support of New Caledonia’s pro-independence parties and accusing Darmanin of “forcing the text through”.

New Caledonia’s pro-independence umbrella, the FLNKS, last week officially demanded that the French government withdraw its Constitutional amendment and that instead a high-level mediatory mission be sent to New Caledonia.

Parallel to the Parliamentary moves, New Caledonia’s politicians, both pro and against independence, have been asked to meet for comprehensive talks in order to draw up a new agreement that would replace the now-defunct Nouméa Accord, signed in 1998.

Nouméa Accord
One of the Accord’s prescriptions was that three consecutive referendums on New Caledonia’s self-determination be held.

All three ballots took place in 2018 and 2021 and three times independence was defeated, albeit in narrow votes in the first two referendums.

However, even though the FLNKS contested the result of the third referendum (boycotted by the independence parties because of the covid pandemic), French President Emmanuel Macron said in July 2023 that he now considered New Caledonia wanted to remain French.

The next step in the Nouméa Accord was for political stakeholders to engage in “inclusive” talks to examine the “situation thus generated”.

The French government’s current moves are said to be a pragmatic response to those sometimes elusive guidelines.

The provincial elections, which were originally scheduled to take place in May, have now been postponed to December 15 “at the latest”.

But in the Constitutional review project, even though the sole subject is the change in access to local elections roll of voters, there are also references to the date of those elections.

This includes that even if a local, bipartisan, inclusive agreement was found and duly recognised between now and December 15, the Constitutional amendment would become irrelevant. Priority would be given to a local New Caledonian agreement to serve as the base for a new Constitutional amendment.

‘Give more time’
During debates since last week, the Senate’s Law Committee managed to introduce new amendments, sometimes rectifying the initial government text.

For instance, if the awaited accord to succeed the Nouméa pact came through, there would be a call for a new election date.

Originally, this would have been achieved by way of a government decree which, the government said, would be the fastest way.

Now the Senate has changed that to a Parliamentary process (also including New Caledonia’s Congress) which could take much more time to set in place.

The general idea, the Senate’s Law Committee said, was to “give more time” for the expected political agreement to happen “without applying excessive stress” to the whole process.

There was consensus on the need to “unfreeze” the local electoral roll (the measure was initially temporary and transitional under the Nouméa Accord) because it denied some 12,000 citizens (even if some of those, indigenous Kanaks or non-Kanaks, were born in New Caledonia) the right to vote.

It was feared that if those elections were held under the “frozen” rule, they would probably be declared invalid and unconstitutional.

Critics of the amendment, including New Caledonia’s first pro-independence Senator Robert Xowie, also said that the manner in which it was “forced” — more than its substance — was a major flaw and that the French State should keep an “impartial” posture, consistent with the spirit of the Nouméa Accord.

‘Don’t inflame’ call
“The point of no return has not been reached yet. We can still avoid lighting that spark which could inflame the whole situation”, Xowie told the Senate.

He also called on the French Prime Minister’s office, once directly in charge of New Caledonia’s matters, to return to steer these issues.

The 10-year uninterrupted residency condition was described by the government as “a reasonable compromise”, Darmanin’s delegate Minister for Overseas Marie Guévenoux told the Senate.

While apologising for Darmanin’s absence, she said the new self-imposed calendar challenges due to the change of implementation process would be hard to meet.

She said there were provisions in the initial draft that would have allowed the government to react more quickly by way of decree in suspending the provincial elections — and even postponing them as far as “November 2025”.

Waiting for a local, inclusive political agreement
After the Senate’s endorsement of the modified amendment, the text is, however, far from the end of its legislative journey: it is now due for debate before the National Assembly on May 13.

If it passes again, its legislative journey is not finished yet as it has to be endorsed sometime in June 2024 by the French Congress, which is a gathering of both the Senate and National Assembly by a required three-fifths majority.

Tensions high back in Nouméa
During debates on Tuesday, Senators often alluded to the recent radicalisation from both the pro-independence and pro-French parties.

Last week, the two antagonist groups held two opposing demonstrations and marches at the same time, both in downtown Nouméa, only a few hundred meters away from each other.

Thousands, on each side, have held banners and flags opposing the electoral changes on one side and supporting them on the other side.

There was also a clear escalation in the tone of speeches held, notably by the French  “loyalists”.

Part of their protest last Thursday was also to denounce a series of government-imposed taxes, including one on fuel (which has since been withdrawn after a series of blockades) and the other on electricity (to avoid bankruptcy for local power company Enercal)

Last month, “loyalists” members walked out of New Caledonia’s “collegial” government, saying they regarded their pro-independence party colleagues as “illegitimate”.

On the local scene, over the past few months, New Caledonia has been facing the very real effects of an economic crisis for its crucial nickel industry.

One of the three nickel mining plants has been temporarily shut down and the other two are facing a similarly bleak future, putting at risk thousands of jobs.

Paris has put on the table a rescue plan worth over 200 million euros to bail out New Caledonia’s nickel industry, provided it engages in stringent reforms to lower its production costs, but the signing, initially scheduled to take place by the end of March, has still not happened.

Later this week, New Caledonia’s congress is due to meet specifically on the matter to authorise President Louis Mapou to do so.

One strong opponent to the amendment’s vote this week, Mélanie Vogel (Greens and Solidarity caucus) warned the House she believed if the amendment was forced through “we are getting ready to break the conditions that made a return to civil peace possible”.

She and others from all sides of the House also supported the idea of some kind of a delegation to foster the conclusion of talks for the much-expected successor agreement to the Nouméa Accord.

During the first half of the 1980s, New Caledonia was the scene of a civil war between pro and anti-independence sides which only ended after the signing of the Matignon-Oudinot Accords in 1988.

The Nouméa Accord followed in 1998.

“We’re all waiting for this inclusive agreement to arrive, but for the time being, it’s not there. So this (constitutional amendment), for now, is the least bad solution,” Senator Philippe Bonnecarrère (Centrist Union) told the House.

“So this (constitutional amendment), for now, is the least bad solution.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Vanuatu Prime Minister has again failed to push through controversial constitutional changes.

These include extending the term of Parliament, changing the definition of a Vanuatu citizen, and increasing the size of cabinet by nearly a third.

A second session of Parliament yesterday was adjourned because of a lack of MPs.

Prime Minister Bob Loughman wants to push through at least 15 constitutional changes which the opposition and some MPs in both his coalition and his own Vanua’aku Pati oppose.

On Friday there were only 31 of the 52 MPs present.

For a constitutional change a minimum of 34 MPs is needed.

On Thursday, lawyers in Port Vila published a statement strongly criticising one of the planned constitutional amendments.

They say the government’s plan to put the Chief Justice’s position on a fixed-term contract undermines the credibility of that judicial office.

Costly process
The adjournment of the Vanuatu Parliament over the seven days to Friday cost the country’s taxpayers more than 3.7 million vatu (US$32,000).

This is because MPs and cabinet ministers each get daily allowances when the Parliament is in session.

“You cannot just pull a paper from a rubbish bin and bring it to Parliament for approval because you are dealing with Vanuatu’s Constitution,” former prime minister Charlot Salwai said. https://t.co/Bgq4z1XeXs

— RNZ Pacific (@RNZPacific) June 16, 2022

But on Friday a week ago the session was adjourned because many MPs had boycotted over government plans to push through the sweeping constitutional changes.

Ati George Sokomanu, who was the country’s first president, is calling for more communication among the leaders and respect for the procedures required under the constitution to avoid wasting taxpayers’ money.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Vanuatu’s opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu said Members of Parliament from the Opposition bloc would boycott the special Parliament sitting again today.

“We think there are a number of amendments that are very bad for the country, and very dangerous for the Parliament to be considering,” he said.

“We will not be turning up to Parliament in the hope that we can contribute to not having a quorum to pass the amendment.

“We hope that RMC (Reunification Movement of Change) MPs will also absent themselves tomorrow. I also called on other MPs and parties in the government to boycott too, so that the required quorum would not be met.

“I hope that will force the government to do what it should do or [have] done in the first place, to follow the proper process of consultation and setting up of the Constitutional Review Committee to consider any amendment on the Constitution that it want to bring to Parliament.”

Regenvanu said yesterday’s Vanuatu Daily Post front page on “VP against proposed review to Chief Justice’s tenure” was a perfect example of why such a constitutional amendment has to go through the proper process of consultation and consideration by a committee.

“Just six days ago, the government headed by Vanua’aku Pati (VP) proposed this new amendment,” he said. “We don’t know where this amendment came from. There has never been any review or study suggesting that this should happen.

Careful consideration needed
“The VP-led government itself tabled this amendment in Parliament and six days later it came out in the media saying it is not going to support.

“This is why we are advocating such important affairs, such as trying to change the constitution of the country. It requires careful consideration and there is a process to follow before making amendments.”

The special sitting on the proposed constitutional amendment scheduled last Friday was adjourned to today, due to lack of quorum.

The government needs 34 votes to pass the amendment.

Kizzy Kalsakau and Anita Roberts are Vanuatu Daily Post reporters. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

In Vanuatu, one key party in the government says it will boycott tomorrow’s planned session of Parliament.

That session is due to consider several constitutional amendments and the leader of the Reunification of Movements for Change party, former Prime Minister Charlot Salwai, said there had been no consultation with civil society.

He said it was the people’s constitution and they had the right to have their say before approval by Parliament.

The planned changes include:

• extending the parliamentary term from four to five years,
• allowing cabinet to have 17 members — up from the current 13,
• involving mayors in the selection process for the head of state, and
• amendments that will allow a broader definition of who qualifies for citizenship.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz