"Terrorism must not win the day," said Virginie Ruffenach, leader of the Rassemblement (right-wing) group in the New Caledonian Congress, at a press conference in Nouméa on Monday, May 20. For the loyalists, the priority remains restoring order in a territory that has been in the grip of a violent pro-independence insurrection since May 13.

At a defense council meeting in Paris on Monday evening, Emmanuel Macron welcomed "clear progress in restoring order." However, New Caledonian right-wing leaders denied any real return to calm and called for further reinforcements. "We have been asking the government for months to reinforce the forces of law and order, and we deplore the fact that the response has not been equal to the situation," said Ruffenach.

"The priority is not to have a politician [sent by Paris] here but to re-establish order," said Sonia Backès, president of the South Province, within 48 hours. "We have to stop saying in mainland France that the situation is improving but that republican order has not been re-established," said Renaissance (centrist) MP Nicolas Metzdorf, who reiterated his view that there was "an intelligence failure," "given the quality of the rioters' organization, the targets hit first, the actions taken in all the neighborhoods... the upstream exchanges, the logistics."

'A serious mistake'

All three denied the existence of armed Caldoches militias, despite the comments made by the French high commissioner to New Caledonia, Louis Le Franc, in recent days. Instead, they insisted on ordinary citizens protecting their neighborhoods. "A militia is armed men in cars who drive through neighborhoods to shoot. Citizens who set up fixed roadblocks, that has nothing to do," said Ruffenach.

On Monday, the high commission reported that "240 rioters have been arrested" since May 13. The public prosecutor, for his part, referred to "216 police custody measures, including 144 for damage to property, 31 deferrals and 11 incarcerations." Three murder investigations have been opened.

For the loyalists, nothing must stand in the way of the current parliamentary process aimed at adopting the constitutional reform of the electoral body, the subject that has set things alight. "The Versailles Congress must not be suspended or canceled; those who demand it are giving reason to the vandals, the looters, the rioters," said Metzdorf. "The president of the Assemblée Nationale [Yaël Braun-Pivet], Marine Le Pen and others on the left are making a serious mistake" by advocating such a suspension, according to him.

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