As part of his visit to New Caledonia for the South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting, French Minister of Defence at the time, Sebastien Lecornu, performs the customary greeting at the customary senate of New Caledonia. 3 December 2023 Photo: AFP / Delphine Mayeur / Hans Lucas
The collapse of François Bayrou and his government on Monday, following a vote of defiance from MPs, has triggered many reactions, including from political figures in the French Pacific territories.
However, they did not have to wait for too long as outgoing Armies (Defence) Minister Sébastien Lecornu is now Bayrou's successor.
New Caledonia's National Assembly MP Nicolas Metzdorf, who voted in favour of Bayrou "for the sake of continuity", said he wanted to preserve some kind of stability for his French Pacific territory.
He said he expected French President Emmanuel Macron to appoint a new PM as soon as possible.
Metzdorf said one of his main concerns was that New Caledonia's new project for a future political and institutional status, often referred to as the "Bougival project", which was inked on 12 July in the form of a commitment from political parties, now has to be implemented within a very tight schedule.
The roadmap involves several bills to be tabled before the National Assembly and the Senate in Paris before the end of the year.
New Caledonia's other MP, pro-independence Emmanuel Tjibaou, who is affiliated to a left-wing caucus at the French National Assembly, voted against Bayrou.
He said Manuel Valls's professional and personal experience as well as his knowledge of New Caledonia was undoubtedly an asset and that it had mostly benefited New Caledonia over the past nine months.
But the latest deal for New Caledonia, dubbed the "Bougival agreement", fostered by Valls, was strongly opposed by Tjibaou's party, the Union Calédonienne, which itself is a major component of the FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front), New Caledonia's prominent pro-independence movement.
In the French Parliament, on Monday, the 194-364 defiance vote against Bayrou only gathered four MPs from French Overseas Territories in support of the French PM, including three from the French Pacific: Metzdorf (New Caledonia), Moerani Frebault (French Polynesia) and Mikaele Seo (Wallis and Futuna).
Their parties are affiliated to President Macron's political camp.
French Polynesia
In French Polynesia, French Senate member Teva Rohfritsch, who belongs to the "pro-autonomy" camp and opposes independence, told local media if France's current instability was to last, there would be "important repercussions" for French Polynesia and other French Pacific territories, especially regarding French funding issues and the implementation of current or new projects.
Former President Edouard Fritch, leader of a prominent autonomist party, the Tapura Huiraatira, also feared France would now enter an "endless spiral of instability" that will "have repercussions".
He said it was ironic that during a past period of political instability in (between 2004 and 2010), French Polynesia had been a major matter of concern for the French government.
"And now they're in the middle of the same storm. We want to have people in Paris who we can talk to, people in charge, people who help us and support us in our projects", he told public broadcaster Polynésie la 1ère.
However, another pro-autonomy French Polynesian MP Nicole Sanquer voted against Bayrou.
She said she was disappointed that Bayrou's government had not displayed enough interest in French Polynesian affairs, even though Valls recently travelled there a few weeks ago.
Mereana Reid Arbelot, the third MP from pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira, also voted against Bayrou.
On a routine basis, French Polynesia and New Caledonia both receive from France around €1.5 billion each year.
But in New Caledonia, since violent civil unrest broke out in May 2024, resulting in 14 deaths, over €2b in material damages, thousands of job losses and hundreds of business destroyed by arson and looting, French assistance over the past 12 months has doubled, reaching about €3b.
Lecornu is the new PM
Macron, who officially received Bayrou's resignation on Tuesday, did not wait long to appoint his new PM Lecornu, 39.
In announcing the appointment, the French President's office specified that a Cabinet would be appointed only after Lecornu has held a negotiator's role: that is to initiate "consultations" with political parties represented in parliament in order to "build agreements indispensable for decisions to be made during the following months".
Lecornu has held several portfolios since Macron's election in 2017.
His experience includes, the portfolio of Minister for Overseas between 2020 and 2022.
During that time, he attempted to hold talks with New Caledonia's political parties to find a way forward in terms of a future political status after the French Pacific territory held three referendums (2018-2021) on self-determination.
Since 2022, Lecornu became Minister for Armies (Defence), a position he retained under four cabinets until Bayrou's downfall on Monday. He travelled several times to the Pacific region, including in New Caledonia, where he chaired a South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting in December 2023.
Lecornu is the fifth prime minister to serve since the beginning of Macron's second term in 2022.
His first and most urgent task will be to re-draft France's 2026 Appropriation (Budget) Bill, which was the main bone of contention under his predecessor Bayrou and cause his demise, with a backdrop of ballooning debt and a target to save €44b in cost-cutting measures.
