Absence in Paris, ‘bilateral decolonisation’, trust in the state, voter retention: what we can learn from an interview with Caledonian Union Vice-President Gilbert Tuienon
What place will the independence movement take in the next steps regarding the institutional future? The Caledonian Union, which was left out of the discussions in Paris, does not close the dialogue door, but instead reveals its conditions. Its first vice-president, Gilbert Tuienon, was the political guest of Sunday’s TV news.
Why did the Caledonian Union not send representatives to the Paris political sequence at the end of October? First Convention of Partners, before which meetings with the central government. A few days ago, the independence party noted that bilateral discussions should be held in Caledonia. And the attitude of the state is blamed for wanting to impose a draft calendar for the referendum. Are these the only reasons?
“there is this”JT’s guest Gilbert Tyuienon confirmed on Sunday 6 November. “And then we heard often about the promise”, he added. Understand: Travel is guaranteed before independents change their minds. This is what Minister Gerald Darmani questioned in the Senate hearing no later than last Thursday. “With one exception, when the Caledonian Union makes a promise, it does not deliver it unconditionally.”In the 1st set of NC, he insisted on the first vice president of UC. “I participated in the meeting of the ministerial delegation with the president of the Caledonian Union [Jean-François Carenco] and we got the last word to say that we would go to Paris provided we prepared this meeting well. We talked before the training session (…) With the High Commissioner. And above all, we said: we must separate the two spaces.”
It is not a two-way discussion of coffee buddies with the state. This is a colonizer for the colonial debate (…) to settle the colonial debate definitively and above all so that we can talk to each other in confidence again.
Gilbert Tyuienon, UC First Vice President
And to link: “When we saw that things had changed, like last December 12, when our voices were no longer heard, we said: it’s not worth going, because the state is moving on. We felt that this is not our place and we needed it. , before talking to others, our ‘ Decolonization is two-sided.
“The demand of the FLNKS is clear. For a bilateral meeting at the highest level, to resolve the colonial dispute definitively, clarify it and above all so that we can talk to each other in confidence again.”
The idea of a draft referendum in 2023 was rejected by the same Gerald Darmanin on Thursday, November 3. Will GI participate in the announced working groups? Answer: “We continue what we mentioned, that is, bilateral relations with the state at the highest level. What happened in Paris only concerns the people who were in Paris.” Gilbert Tuienon assures him: “We are open to all these spaces for discussion. As long as we clearly follow the path that awaits the Caledonians. Our path is the path of the Nouméa Accord.”
The issue of participation in discussion forums… UC will always be there, because we signed the Noumea agreement, promised for dialogue. Dialogue, we cannot do it alone. (…) We will be there, as long as we keep everything in place and move forward step by step.
quotes as “important steps” An audit on the decolonization of New Caledonia and an evaluation of the Nouméa Agreement – two steps announced by the State. “Let’s have a starting point, look at what’s been done, whether it’s been done well, what needs to be done. Then we’ll go and talk.”
A member of the seventeenth government and the mayor of Canala, the man presents the Treaty of Nouméa. “A ranking. We are moving forward in a gradual but above all irreversible process. It is this step-by-step construction of a new country, a sovereign country. The Union of Caledonia, we have recognized the place. But as long as we resolve the dispute with the state so that we can restore a calm, constructive and reliable dialogue, because”, as if to illustrate this issue of trust, he says: “Today, the French Minister of Citizenship is one of the staunchest loyalists against the liberation of the country. We must understand all this.”
We will never know the result of the third referendum!
Palika, Uni, UC, RDO: Patrice Faure, the bull, has invited separatist parties to meetings this week, while ministers Darmanin and Carenco are expected at the end of the month. “We received an invitation”the guest of the TV news confirmed. “We will discuss it [ce lundi] at the office of the Caledonian Union. But if we go there, of course we will say unpleasant words to the High Commissioner. Because at the moment it doesn’t work at all.”
And repeat : “We have no confidence in the state. And then there’s this famous misfortune of insisting on a referendum that we don’t recognize. And yet we say all the time, including saying. At the highest level of state, New Caledonia no longer calls for independence… “We must remember the words of Jean-Marie Tjibau. He will be there, he will always demand the independence of his country.”
The impartiality of the state, the neutrality of the state generally served us [les] sauces in the past, State equidistance… long dead.
– What is your position regarding the provincial electorate?, one user asks. “The selector is about history,” replies Gilbert Tuienon. “It was about giving the Caledonians the ability to govern their country. [C’]is the mother of battles. And to question the mother of wars is to question the Noumea Agreement. This means questioning the peace we achieved in the Noumea Agreement. However, it is not the state that will guarantee lasting peace, but FLNKS. There are things that cannot be touched.”
Finally, a word about the domestic meeting that awaits the Caledonian Union at Bourail this weekend. “Undoubtedly, this will be a historic congress, because it will be held forty-five years after the congress (…) This led the Caledonian Union to take a stand on the country’s independence. It was 1977.”
The interview with Thérèse Waia can be found here:
