Weeks after its first ever pro-independence government collapsed, New Caledonia has named a French loyalist as its new president as the territory seeks to rebuild from deadly riots and destruction that battered the economy.
Alcide Ponga, from the Le Rassemblement party, was elected president by the newly installed executive in Congress on Wednesday. Ponga’s party is affiliated with French right-wing party LR, Les Républicains. The loyalists are in favour of keeping New Caledonia within France.
“What I feel first and foremost is the weight of responsibility,” Ponga said on Wednesday.
“We all know the situation New Caledonia has been in for the past seven months. What Caledonians expect today is for us to be able to work together and give a signal of hope,” he said.
Ponga, 49, is Kanak and comes from Kouaoua, a mining village in the north of the archipelago. He made his career in the nickel industry before entering politics in 2014.
The appointment brings some political stability to New Caledonia, a territory of France which lies in the Pacific Ocean, after its government fell on 24 December 2024.
The recent political turmoil comes as the territory continues to grapple with the aftermath of deadly riots in May, which erupted in reaction to a constitutional law aimed at enlarging the electorate and increasing the number of French nationals eligible to vote.
The plans from Paris angered Kanaks – who make up about 41% of the population – over fears it would dilute their electoral power and undermine longstanding efforts to secure independence. Thirteen people, mostly Kanaks, and including two police officers, have been killed and nearly 3,000 people arrested over the violence. The bill was later dropped.
The previous pro-independence government led by Louis Mapou had survived several major trials – including Covid and a referendum on full sovereignty – but the deadly riots in 2024 damaged the Congress and was a factor in its collapse.
“It’s a dirty political blow to the country,” said leader Mapou after the government fell in December.
Mapou’s tenure will be remembered for a series of reforms which helped to turn around the country’s economy, which had been damaged by Covid and mining crises, and above all for working with all sides of politics.
“Our work has shaken up the pro-independence and non-independence movements,” he said the day after the announcement of the government’s collapse.
“We did this work in the general interest. We have shown that it is possible to work together.”
