Transcript
Roch Wamytan's election to the Congress top job was possible because the newly formed Pacific Awakening party defied expectations by not voting along the lines of being for or against independence.
Since the provincial elections last month, its three members hold the balance of power in the 54-member Congress which has 26 pro-independence and 25 anti-independence politicians.
The government to be elected next week in New Caledonia is a collegial one, meaning it has to be made up of the parties according to their size in Congress.
The leader of the Pacific Awakening party Milakulo Tukumuli has been on local RRB Radio explaining his party's stance.
"We have to overcome this split over independence which has impoverished the political debate for 30 years. We have to break down this invisible wall which has become visible with this election of Mr Wamytan and now work with each other."
He said by voting for Mr Wamytan his party wanted to give the anti-independence Future with Confidence coalition the message that it could not rule alone.
He also said his party wanted to give the Wallisian and Futunian community a political voice at last and was unhappy at how the anti-independence side refused to ackowledge this.
Thierry Santa, a former Congress president, who was also interviewed on RRB, struck a conciliatory note, taking stock of how Mr Tukumuli's party has assumed centre stage.
"Theirs has been a positioning, different from the classic one which we've had for now 30 years, with pro-independence people on one side and loyalists on the other. They have placed themselves in the middle and act, and have acted, as a result of circumstances to overcome this split."
Roch Wamytan relished his election as Congress president and noted that there now was a Pacific Islander majority in Congress.
Mr Tukumuli, however, said there is a Pacific way of doing things which goes beyond politics.
"I don't know what Mr Wamytan means with this Pacific majority - it cannot be one for independence because our party is not a pro-independence party."
Mr Tukumuli wants to be as inclusive as possible while pushing an agenda aimed at getting a better social outcome.
"The ideal would be to include Caledonia Together and also Palika. Many people are threatening us, many people are trying to buy us. I want to say though that Pacific Awakening is a free movement. We cannot be bought and we fear nothing."
The old pro-French guard is perplexed at the change of fortune which however comes after years of infighting within its ranks, with parties splintering and coalescing but still, in the main, deeply divided.
On television, the outgoing Congress president Gael Yanno took stock.
"The loyalists are in a minority in all the commissions of Congress and they have also elected a pro-independence vice-president and a pro-independence president of the permanent commission. That's the outcome of the fratricidal fight among the loyalists."
Thierry Santa is aware that Pacific Awakening is in a strong position.
But he said last November's referendum on independence signalled to the outside world that New Caledonians want to stay French.
He said it would be grotesque if that wasn't reflected in the government of New Caledonia.
"With a Congress led by a pro-independence president and a government led by a pro-independence president, I would say the message would at least be unclear and perhaps poorly understood on a French national and international level."
Congress has agreed to keep the size of government at 11.
Who will be in it will be determined on June 13th.
After that it will be up to the 11 government members to choose the president for the next five years.
