SYDNEY, May 16 (Reuters) - Armed forces were protecting New Caledonia’s two airports and port after a third night of violent riots that have killed four people, the Pacific Island’s top French official said on Thursday morning, adding at least four alleged instigators were under house arrest.
In three municipalities on the French-ruled island, gendarmes faced about 5,000 rioters, including between 3,000 and 4,000 in the capital Noumea, France’s High Commissioner Louis Le Franc said in a televised press conference.
Two hundred people have been arrested, and 64 gendarmes and police injured, while road barricades put up by the protesters were causing a “dire situation” for medicine and food for the population, he added.
I understand why Caledonians don’t like the bill, but to answer your questions: yes, they can vote for the French Government, as they are by law French Citizen (as well as Caledonian Citizen, in opposition to someone living in Marseille which only gets the French citizenship and no Provençal citizenship, for instance) They also have a higher autonomy than other French region or department (imo it’s a good thing as they definitely have quite a different situation than metropolitan France regions)
I understand that this situation can look colonial-ish to outsiders, but according to the last referendum, a big majority of Caledonian people wishes to stay French. And they are full French citizens. This is a protest like those in Paris, against our (shitty?) gouvernement, not a protest for independence, afaik