New Caledonia is a French semi-autonomous territory in the South Pacific, authorities curfew The bill bans all public gatherings on Tuesday after protests over proposed constitutional changes turned violent overnight.
The French High Commission in New Caledonia announced on Tuesday that it had “massively mobilized” security and defense forces to quell the protests. Separately, the capital Noumea imposed a curfew on Tuesday night, banning all public gatherings, the sale of alcohol and the transport of weapons, the high commission said.
The latest protests began on Monday ahead of a vote in France’s parliament on Tuesday on an amendment to New Caledonia’s constitution that would expand French citizens’ eligibility to vote in provincial elections. Some pro-independence activists in the region fear the amendment will weaken their movement.
The committee said on Tuesday morning that many police officers were injured in the unrest and that shops, pharmacies, supermarkets and car dealers were damaged in the capital and some remote areas. At least 36 people were arrested, the commission said.
Tensions have been building for weeks over proposed constitutional changes. The territory’s electoral roll has been effectively frozen since 2007, with only those on the list in 1998 eligible to vote in subsequent elections.
Adrian Muckle, a senior lecturer in history at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, said the amendment would give voting rights to all French citizens who have lived in the territory for 10 years, effectively adding about 20,000 to 25,000 people. is an expert on New Caledonia. New Caledonia has a population of approximately 300,000.
This is a development story.
