Paris: The Minister of France abroad on Thursday welcomed the news that the New Caledonia had chosen Louis Mapou as the first pro-independence president since 1998 dealing with Paris to provide more political power to the French Pacific region.
New Caledonia, who accommodated business operations for the Brazil Vale multinational mining company and the French mining group Eramet, was hit by last year’s riots.
The Islands became the French colony in 1853 and tensions had long been walking far between the Pro-Independence Adat Kinds, and the descendants of colonial settlers who remained loyal to Paris.
“I welcome the agreement achieved by the New Caledonia Government to appoint his president.
I congratulate Louis Mapou and hope he succeeded: in Paris or in a video conference I invited him to discuss the various problems we have together,” said Sebastien Lecornu on Twitter.
The election came several months before the third and last referendum that the island could take legally whether it would separate themselves from France under the 1998 agreement, known as the Noumea Accord.
Previous referendum in 2018 and 2020 both failed to win the majority of supporting independence, but support for the remaining parts of France fell from 56.7% in 2018 to 53.26% in 2020.
New Caledonia is located around 1,200 km (750 miles) and 20,000 km (12,500 miles) from Paris.
Under French colonial rule, children are locked up to reserve and excluded from many of the island economics.
The first rebellion erupted in 1878, shortly after the discovery of large nickel deposits.
Until three referendums in 2022 were permitted based on the provisions of the 1998 NOUMEA Accord, an agreement immortalized in the French constitution and which set a 20-year line to decolonization.