Explosive welcome in Noumea

From a Noumea correspondent

On the eve of Mr Stirn’s visit, Laroque and Lafleur’s anti-autonomist party (EDS) issued a press com munique urging the Caledonians to give a “dignified and courteous” welcome to the Minister. Were they already anticipating gelignite and wall slogans?

The day the minister held a closed working session at the Territorial Assembly (January 27) the walls of the assembly chamber were found splashed with slogans “Stirn a liar”, “Out with the French”, “Independence”, “Free Kanaka lands” and signed by the Kanaka (Canaque ) Liberation Front.

At the same time, a significant charge of gelignite had been placed on the desk of Assembly President, Yann Celene Uregei, in an obvious position, but not connected and with a clock timed nowhere near the time of the planned 2 pm meeting. A caretaker starting work around 6 am sounded the alarm and a bomb dis posal expert from the army came to take away the explosives, while the walls were hurriedly repainted.

During the afternoon closed session with the minis ter, a Union Caledonienne party leader said, “What happened last night should open the eyes of those who want to keep them closed, and confirm our warnings and our fears”—in other words, faced with a persistent refusal of autonomy, the Melanesians might take up arms and rid themselves of Europeans.

The official inquiry gave little early indication of the culprits, but suspicion fell on the various leftist

independence-seeking groups which have taken to ex tremist action over the past few years.

Underlying the fact that some people are now tired of endless talking with Paris, the bomb was thus in tended to show the minister the kind of future his policy could lead to. The gelignite was apparently stolen from the nickel mines of the SLN company at Nepoui.

Of course, the French always revel in political “entertainment of the gallery” as they say, and one could easily suspect who might suggest such a plot to the Melanesians. Certainly the authorities can make good propaganda out of such situations as it gives them another opportunity to warn local Europeans of the trouble they would face if France, her army and her gendarmes, were not there to protect them against militant Melanesians. Ironically, at the same time, Mela nesians have been constantly reminded that they need the generous hand of French rule to protect them from exploitation by a few unscrupulous Europeans.

The whole “bomb” incident highlights the perpetual French struggle between liberty and powerful protec tion. Much as they prize being litres (free), the in dividualistic French deeply enjoy a show of strength, rather than weak democracy, and are quick to summon authoritarian power as a means of enforcing restraint and protection of the individual against his freedom seeking neighbour. Hence the struggle for power, but not the desire for real local responsibility.