The Seine, Eiffel Tower and Quai de Grenelle, in Paris. Photo: AFP/ Only France - Jean Isenmann
An inclusive, bipartisan delegation from New Caledonia is scheduled to travel to Paris next week to meet high officials, including the presidents of both Houses of Parliament, French media has reported.
New Caledonia's delegation is scheduled to travel from 23 September to 4 October.
It is supposed to include, on a bipartisan basis, the four New Caledonia MPs members of the Upper House (Senate, 2 MPs) and the Lower House (National Assembly, 2 MPs), half of them pro-independence and the other two pro-France (Loyalists), but also four of the five caucus leaders in New Caledonia's Congress, the Chair of the customary Senate, a representative of the local government, and the Chair of the Economic and Social Council.
The delegation is to meet not only French Senate President Gérard Larcher and National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet, but also several party caucus leaders within both houses of the French Parliament.
Other targeted high officials would come from the Economy and Finance ministry.
French President Emmanuel Macron recently said he would also hold talks with New Caledonia's politicians in order to restore dialogue and attempt to resume discussions concerning a resolution of the crisis and the long-term political future of New Caledonia.
He mentioned then a timeframe around September and October.
High on the agenda would be a "reconstruction plan" endorsed by the local Congress, as a request to France, totalling some €4.1 billion (Euros) over the next five years, which local leaders say is needed to rebuild New Caledonia after the destructive riots that started on 13 May (leading to an estimated cost of €2.2 billion Euros in damage).
Meanwhile, the newly appointed French prime minister, veteran politician, Michel Barnier has yet to announce his cabinet lineup.
Barnier, a centre-right politician who has previously voiced support for New Caledonia to remain part of France, is facing heavy criticism from left-wing French parties and is currently attempting to appoint a government team that would be acceptable to a sufficient portion of the French political spectrum in Parliament (currently split between left, centre, right and far-right parties with no emerging majority).
There have been calls from politicians from the French Overseas departments and territories (including in the Pacific) for Barnier to appoint a fully-fledged Minister for Overseas, contrary to the practice in recent years which saw the overseas portfolio being assigned to a minor "delegate" minister under the French Minister of Home Affairs.
This, the overseas politicians said, was necessary in the face of the "urgency" many overseas territories faced, including the need to resolve New Caledonia's crisis but also, more generally elsewhere, acute cost of living issues triggering long-drawn-out strikes and unrest.
