Tour De Force

Opinion

Noumea applauds Rocard’s plan for “decolonisation”.

AS this issue of Pacific Islands Monthly goes to press, France’s new Prime Minister, Mr Michel Rocard, has just returned to Paris from a three day visit to New Caledonia the first visit by a Socialist Prime Min ister and the first since Jacques Chirac’s flying visit last September.

Mr Rocard’s visit is thus doubly notable: he is the first PM to be hailed as the agent, if not the author, of profound change in the territory (conservative leaders have utilised New Caledonia primarily for publicity purposes in the past, knowing they could count on a high approval rating and taking advantage of Caldoche support to bolster their image in metropolitan France) and the first to promote France as a decolonising power.

Of course, cynics both in Noumea and in the region have dismissed his trip as no more than a public-relations gesture: a glib media event that presages no genuine change, but merely tightens his party’s grasp of government in Paris.

That, however, is not reflected by reaction in New Caledonia, especially in the towns and villages outside the capital. Melanesians have been buoyed by his informed interest and his apparent commitment to redressing more than a cen tury of abuse. Europeans have been reassured by his pragmatism and lack of rhetoric (his sobriquet, “the intellectual hamster”, has perversely won him popularity in non-intellectual French circles) and seem to believe that he does not intend to “abandon” them as right-wing extremists, conscious that much of their support comes from those still bitter about Algeria, have claimed.

The meat of Mr Rocard’s offer should provide comfort to both camps in the troubled territory: in his own words, a “veritable economic and cultural de colonisation of New Caledonia prior to independence. If it works, it will be a major world success” (he need not add that France, which has attracted con stant criticism for what many observers claim is an arrogant attitude, badly needs a shot of international approval).

Acknowledging, at a Kanak rally in the separatist stronghold of Poindimie, France’s recognition of the Melanesian struggle for self-determination, he promised financial, educational and technological support but warned Kanaks (and thereby comforted worried Caldoches) that Kanaks would have to work to build the New Caledonia of their dreams. Significantly, he made no mention of the concept of “Kanaky”, obviously recognising the territory’s likely dependence on France for generations to come.

Later, he addressed white settlers in Noumea and warned them they must learn to hand over power or face a protracted and undoubtedly destructive civil war: the events of the past 12 months have shown the Kanaks are able to mount an effective (if as yet relatively unco-ordinated) guerrilla campaign that could, if properly planned, bring New Caledonia’s affairs to a halt.

Mr Rocard has also demonstrated a more canny appreciation of the media than many of his predecessors with his announcement that RFO, France’s overseas radio service, will recruit and train Kanak journalists and technicians and that it will “better reflect the cultural and social realities” of New Cale donia ... something it manifestly has failed to do. As well, he hinted at the possibility of allowing an increase in the number of private, independent radio stations in the territory, “bearing in mind the need to respect the geographical, political and ethnic balances” of New Caledonia.

Self-serving manipulation of an electorate or high-minded attempt at peaceful progress, Michel Rocard’s words can only be taken at face value for the present. But the next decade will prove whether he and his Government and, indeed, his successors are genuine. Next month will see the first test, when Mr Rocard seeks cabinet approval (likely to be no more than a rubber stamp exercise) of November 6 as the date of a national referendum on the future administration of New Caledonia. The result of that poll will in turn indicate national feeling and, New Caledonia’s friends in the region hope, a timetable for France to cover itself in glory. □