Gérard Larcher (left) and Yaël Braun-Pivet (centre) meet New Caledonia President Louis Mapou (right) on Monday 11 November. Photo: Gouvernement de la Nouvelle-Calédonie Facebook
The presidents of France's Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament have on Wednesday ended a three-day "concertation and dialogue" visit in New Caledonia, during which they referred to "shared sovereignty", regarding the Pacific archipelago's future relationship with France, several times.
The French National Assembly and Senate presidents, Yaël Braun-Pivet and Gérard Larcher, met and held talks with a wide range of stakeholders, in the fields of politics, economy, the private sector, health, education, and law and order as well as associations.
Talks were also held for hours on Tuesday, but behind closed doors, with all political parties, both for and against independence, represented at the local Congress.
Nothing was revealed of the contents of those political discussions.
It was also at the Congress that they both delivered consecutive addresses on Tuesday.]
Larcher told New Caledonia's Congress members that "in our world", from the Pacific to the European Union, there are only shared sovereignties.
"It's a choice that is not necessarily binary and that can be arrived at through an imaginative and original construction within the (French) republic, if (New) Caledonians wish so and this is my personal wish," he added, referring to future links between New Caledonia and France beyond the 1998 Nouméa autonomy Accord.
Gérard Larcher pays traditional respect to New Caledonia government on 11 November. Photo: Gouvernement de la Nouvelle-Calédonie Facebook
Larcher also recalled that in 2016, he had suggested to the same Congress that it should reflect on the "notion of sovereignty".
Braun-Pivet outlined France's expectations.
"What France is expecting from you is to build a peaceful future...so that everyone can live as part of a human community with a common destiny," he said earlier before the Congress.
She also referred to "plurality in diversity" so that "all legitimacies" are taken into consideration - "those of the Kanaks who bear centuries of memories and atrocious suffering" and "those of the other communities who have made this land their home and have been taking part in its destiny for so long".
She said the outcome of further talks could be a "roadmap" that would shape "a future sovereignty where everyone finds a place".
"Nothing is dictated or orientated by Paris," she said.
"New Caledonia's future is in your hands. We're only asking for one thing: that this dialogue takes place in a spirit of responsibility and dignity."
Members of the traditional Chiefly Senate and the New Caledonian city mayors have also seized the opportunity to clearly ask to be part of future negotiations that are yet to resume regarding the French territory's status.
Boulouparis mayor and President of New Caledonia's mayors' association Pascal Vittori told public broadcaster NC la 1ère on Wednesday: "The dialogue has to take place because it's the only thing that will allow New Caledonia to re-start.
"What is important is to keep New Caledonia functional beyond 2025, instead of announcing concepts that can frighten people and could be interpreted in many different ways," he said, in reference to the "shared sovereignty" comments from Larcher.
Before they left, the two top Parliamentarians also held a joint interview on Wednesday with two TV stations (Caledonia, Nouvelle-Calédonie la 1ère) and one radio station (Radio Rythme Bleu)].
Asked about "shared sovereignty", Larcher answered: "To me, this is a term that should not be imprisoned in an ideological concept".
"The approach should be pragmatic. When France is sharing the same currency [the Euro] with the European Union, when we have defence agreements under the North Atlantic Treaty, are we not in shared sovereignty?
"So the notion of shared sovereignty, I see it totally possible with the [French] republic. I told the Congress: this is what I personally wish for. In New Caledonia, you are already experiencing a level of autonomy that is not seen anywhere else. Let's try to conceptualise how two dreams that seem antagonistic can in fact be conjugated."
'Shared sovereignty' or 'independence-association'
The two moderate pro-independence parties, PALIKA (Kanak Liberation Party) and UPM (Melanesian Progressist Union) have for years openly stated that while accessing full sovereignty remained a key element, they favoured a "shared sovereignty" with France, sometimes also termed "independence-association".
And that prior to this, they remained committed to taking part in any round table discussion, PALIKA spokesman Jean-Pierre Djaïwé said at the weekend.
UPM President Victor Tutugoro told local media: "We will keep on talking with anti-independence forces."
Other more radical components of the pro-independence movement, like the Union Calédonienne (UC), are supporting a faster independence process.
But it is mostly in the anti-independence camp that this notion of shared sovereignty is opposed.
A few hints for future innovations
A former justice minister (2016-2017) under a Socialist government, Jean-Jacques Urvoas, who was also a former rapporteur of a previous information mission on New Caledonia's institutional future in 2016, has weighed into the debate.
"When you look at New Caledonia's reality, there's not much missing to reach full sovereignty," he said.
Urvoas, now a public law professor in a French university, earlier mentioned a new notion: a status of "associate country".
He said in the past, especially during the mid-1980s, amidst a quasi civil war, France had tried to suggest the option of "independence-association".
"But it ended up becoming a scarecrow, especially the pro-French side; they were furious.
"So nowadays, if you say 'associate state', it just doesn't work.
"That's why I suggested the term 'associate country' (not state) because this notion of country already exists in New Caledonia's 1999 organic law."
This legally defines New Caledonia as a "sui generis" entity - a Latin phrase meaning 'one of its own kind'.
Urvoas said he believed those formulations would not be frightening and that "there's something there that is promising".
"The notions of independence and sovereignty are at the heart of the matter. To refuse to see this amounts to forbidding oneself to bring responses."
Back in Paris, Larcher will return to the French political fray: he will chair debates on the 2025 budget (Appropriation Bill), with a backdrop of necessary restrictions in the face of a ballooning debt.
Larcher and Braun-Pivet are also to present a report on their New Caledonian mission not only to their respective Houses, but also to French PM Michele Barnier and President Emmanuel Macron.
Both Macron and Barnier have indicated they were also considering meeting New Caledonia's political parties.
Barnier talked of travelling there "when the time is right", while Macron previously said he was considering hosting a formal meeting in Paris sometime in November.
