An alliance of pro-independence parties in New Caledonia has nominated the imprisoned activist Christian Tein as head of the prominent opposition FLNKS group. Tein is currently being detained in France over a wave of deadly rioting in the French Pacific territory.
Christian Tein – who considers himself a "political prisoner" – was one of seven pro-independence activists transferred to mainland France in June in a move that sparked renewed violence that has raged across the archipelago and left 11 people dead.
His appointment on Saturday to lead the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) risks complicating efforts to end New Caledonia's political crisis, sparked in May by a Paris plan for voting reforms that indigenous Kanaks say will thwart their ambitions for independence by leaving them a permanent minority.
Laurie Humuni of the RDO party – one of four in the FLNKS alliance – said at the weekend that Tein's nomination was a recognition of his CCAT party's leading role in mobilising the independence movement.
In a post on X, the FLNKS congress said the move to elect Tein "went back to the origins of the Front by integrating several groups and recognising the CCAT and the struggle of committees as FLNKS [partners]. It was not an election ‘by the UC and the RDO’ but by the 10 components of the Front".
Discord among FLNKS ranks
It remains unclear if the two other alliance members – the UPM and Palika – supported the move as they had recently refused to participate in the latest FLNKS meeting and indicated they would not support any of its proposals.
The alliance also said it was willing to renew talks to end the protests, but only if local anti-independence parties are excluded.
According to Humuni: "We will have to remove some blockades to allow the population access to essential services, but that does not mean we are abandoning our struggle".
On Thursday, France said it had agreed to terms with Pacific leaders seeking a fact-finding mission to New Caledonia in a bid to resolve the dispute, though a date for the mission has not yet been set.
President Emmanuel Macron's government has sent thousands of troops and police to restore order in the archipelago, almost 17,000 kilometres from Paris, and the electoral reforms were suspended in June.
