French PM called to order by Macron over New Caledonia
After expressing his intention of “personally” involving himself in seeking a solution to the crisis in France’s South Pacific territory of New Caledonia, where tensions were ignited earlier this year after a move by president Emmanuel Macron to reform the electoral register to the detriment of the pro-independence movement of the indigenous Kanak people, the new French prime minister, Michel Barnier, was forced into a U-turn by Macron, who doggedly refuses to recognise errors in his approach to the crisis, in which 13 people have died. Ellen Salvi reports.
LastLast Tuesday, presenting the political programme of his new government before parliament, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier included his plans for dealing with the crisis that has gripped France’s South Pacific territory of New Caledonia since May, which has left 13 people dead in the worst clashes in 40 years, and spoke of his intention to involve himself “personally” in the problem.
