Referendum ta derecho di Pueblo Boneriano (Papiamentu)

James Finies

 Presidente i kordinado Fundashon Nos Ke Boneiru Bek

Worldatlas.com

Pueblo di Boneiru a wordu inkorpora  i integra den estado Hulandes sin su aotorisashon legal kual mester tabata un eskoho i desishon di e pueblo liber i konsiente di  tur konsekwensia  previo di su eskoho, i for di despues di 10-10-10 a drenta un epoka di divishon i inseguridat ku nunka prome no tabata e kaso.

E desunion i divishon aki huntu ku tur kambionan ku a wordu i kada dia di nobo ta wordu desidi i ta traha ley pa e pueblo Boneriano pa e gobiernu di Hulanda situa na Den Haag i kaminda ku e pueblo su bos ku ta su poder demokratiko a wordu neutralisa a krea un situashon di desesperashon i sin salida pa e pueblo.

 Nos a  splika i roga na politikonan ku a soru pa e divishon aki ku ta ‘union” ta e solushon i pa kuminsa e kaminda di rekonsiliashon di e pueblo i restorashon di e pueblo su derechonan historikamente hereda i atkeri  pa por duna e pueblo ku ta desampara un speransa nobo.

Nos Rei nobo Willem Alexander a bini, a skucha, i a komprende e situashon ku su pueblo di su Reino ta konfrontando a priminti di lo juda i a duna e pueblo un speransa nobo.

Despues di esaki  gobiernu di Hulanda a kumpli ku promesa di Rei i resien a deklara ofisialmente ku “ ku nan ta respeta nos pueblo su derecho di autodeterminsahon konforme reglanan di Nashonan Uni i awor nos mes por bai referendum i hasi un eskoho estatal nobo den Reino i nan lo respete i ku nan tin deber di juda nos i ku nan lo renegosha ku nos den kuadro di ley internashonal di igualdat, rasonabilidat, integridat i buena fe”

25 di februari Konseho Insular a uni den e moshon i desishon den su totalidat i unaninamente tur miembro a bai akuerdo ku lo mester tene un referendum pa por trese pas i trankilidat bek den e pueblo Boneriano i esaki a wordu ratifika ofisialmente  atrobe unaninamente pa tur miembro di raad riba 1 april instalando e komishon pa duna un konseho prinsipalmente na e uniko puntu di diskushon o desakuerdo ku tabatin pa sea tene e referendum prome ku elekshon o despues di evaluashon.

E pueblo Boneriano a sinti un alivio i a rebiba nan speransa pa un solushon pronto pa por duna e pueblo e oportunidat pa eherse su  derecho di  disidi su mes riba su futuro kual ta su responsabilidat i su desishon. E union i kaminda di rekonsialshon a habri di nobo i un futuro briiante mirando ku Hulanda lo juda i kopera ku deseo di e pueblo a kuminsa bira realidat.

E reunion di konseho insular siman pasa 6 mei kaminda e komishon, konsisitiendo entre otro di tres(3) eksperto legal e duna nan konseho “awor o nunka” riba e mandato di konseho insular riba e  pregunta prinispal ki dia lo tene  e referendum sea prome ku elekshon o despues di evaluashon a wordu desaproba i silensia sin ningun pregunta o remarke riba e puntu di desakuerdo kual ta e momentu adekua pa tene e referendum sea prome ku elekshon o despues di evaluashon. Niun solo momentu so e diskushon o pregunta o moshon pa ku esaki no tabata na diskushon.

 I koalishon a disidi na final den un votashon pa para e proseso i asina para e referendum i a bira lomba pa e pueblo i traishona e pueblo ku a konfia den su representanten ku nan deber ta  di proteha e pueblo i su derechonan i a bolbe kita e speransa di e pueblo ku a kuminsa sinti i kere ku e solushon tabata na kaminda i ta kibra e proseso di union i rekonsiliashon ku a kuminsa kue forma i a bolbe dividi e pueblo un biaha mas i awor e pueblo a bolbe kai den un estado di desesperashon i ta insierto di su futuro i ta riska di entrega nos pueblo su futuro den man di otronan.

Un jamada ta bai un biaha mas na direkshon di nos miembronan di konseho insular pa por rekonsidera nan posishon i tene kuenta ku nan a wordu skohe pa sali na defensa di nos pueblo i su derechonan i no lo kontrali i no por entrega esakinan bek sin autorisashon di e pueblo.  Mester tene debidamente kuenta ku e rogamentu i sklamashon di e pueblo pa debolbe esakinan bek  si no ta duna e pueblo  tambe e derecho di por eksigihi su derechonnan bek  di kualke otro forma  kual nos no ta spera ku lo mester ta e kaso si miembronan di nos konseho insular tene kuenta ku ley i nan konsenshi i aktua konforme esey.

Virgin Islands' first Premier, former Chief Minister to retire from politics

Hon. Ralph T. O’Neal OBE will not seek reelection!

- Longest serving Virgin Islands Leader told his 9th District Committee that he had enough and will not seek reelection when term ends in 2015/16

VALLEY, Virgin Gorda, VI - In a history making decision that has sent shock waves throughout the political class both locally and regionally the Virgin Islands’ first Premier and longest serving elected Member of Parliament in the English speaking Caribbean Honourable Ralph Telford O’Neal OBE has called it quits.

READ THE FULL STORY ON VIRGIN ISLANDS NEWS ONLINE

Don’t Forget The Contributions Of Black History Giant Hubert Harrison

African Globe

Hubert Henry Harrison

AFRICANGLOBE – Hubert H. Harrison (1883-1927) is one of the truly important figures of 20th-century history. A brilliant writer, orator, educator, critic and political activist, he was described by the historian Joel A. Rogers, in World’s Great Men of Color as “the foremost Afro-American intellect of his time.” This extraordinary praise came amid chapters on Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, William Monroe Trotter and Marcus Garvey.

Rogers adds that, “No one worked more seriously and indefatigably to enlighten” others and “none of the Afro-American leaders of his time had a saner and more effective program.” Labor and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph described Harrison as “the father of Harlem Radicalism.” Harrison’s friend and pallbearer, Arthur Schomburg, fully aware of his popularity, eulogized to the thousands attending Harrison’s Harlem funeral that he was also “ahead of his time.”

Born in St. Croix, Danish West Indies, on April 27, 1883, to a Bajan mother and a Crucian father, Harrison arrived in New York as a 17-year-old orphan in 1900. He made his mark in the United States by struggling against class and racial oppression, by helping to create a remarkably rich and vibrant intellectual life among African Americans and by working for the enlightened development of those he affectionately referred to as “the common people.”

READ FULL ARTICLE IN AFRICAN GLOBE

Inter-Virgin Islands Council meets to strengthen BVI-USVI ties

Caribbean News Now

USVI Governor John de Jongh (L) and BVI Premier Dr Orlando Smith
at Sixth Inter Virgin Islands Council meeting in Tortola

ROAD TOWN, BVI -- The British Virgin Islands (BVI) and United States Virgin Islands (USVI) continued to strengthen ties as senior government officials met and reported on areas of shared interests during the sixth Inter-Virgin Islands Council (IVIC) on Thursday.

Executive director in the International Affairs Secretariat, Sylvia Moses stated, “The IVIC is the formal side of the BVI-USVI relationship where our legislators and policy makers explore different ways to support or enhance the relations between the BVI and USVI, and monitor or introduce policies designed to improve the quality of life for the people of the two territories.”

At the House of Assembly meeting held on March 13, BVI premier and minister of finance, Dr Orlando Smith, stated, “Our territories’ mutual commitment to the Inter-Virgin Islands Council demonstrates that both our governments recognise the need to build an even more effective framework for continued meaningful and productive social, economic and political exchanges. It is a forum for mutual consultation and collaboration between the respective governments.”

Smith added, “Today our territories’ mutual interests and challenges are different than in 1951, but the spirit of family and oneness are the same.”

A number of initiatives have arisen from the council meetings. These include gang awareness sessions in the community and at the Elmore Stoutt High School and information exchange between law enforcement personnel in both jurisdictions.

Smith headed the BVI delegation which included permanent secretaries and relevant senior officers. 

The council received updates on law enforcement, pleasure boating, tourism and education. Also discussed were initiatives to explore the scope of cooperation in BVI musician work permits.

Other developments include: joint territorial training on newly acquired microfilm equipment to digitize historical documents and data; meetings to discuss a US Customs and Border Protection patrol facility at the Red Hook marine terminal on St Thomas instead of St John, a US pre-clearance facility in the BVI, earlier operating hours for Customs and Border Protection to accommodate BVI residents and visitors travelling on early flights from St Thomas.

USVI Governor John de Jongh said, “I welcomed the opportunity to meet with Premier Dr Smith and the BVI delegation to discuss these issues of great importance to both territories. Today’s meeting follows on previous meetings of the council held in 2012 and 2011 in which many of these same issues were discussed.” 

“These are core issues that affect the well-being of the people of both territories and I am pleased that through the council, we have developed a collaborative effort in addressing these various concerns ranging from law enforcement to solid waste management and the very important challenge of energy costs,” he added.

The BVI government’s representation at the Inter-Virgin Islands Council meeting reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening regional and international relations, as well as maintaining its close ties with the USVI.

The Inter-Virgin Islands Council was established on Saturday, 29 May, 2004, when former USVI Governor Dr Charles Turnbull and Chief Minister Dr Orlando Smith signed a joint memorandum of understanding. The Council’s first meeting convened on St Croix in April 2005.

Puerto Rico Resident Commission to the U.S. Congress comments on impact of political integration for territory

Pierluisi seeks hearings in Congress on GAO report on impact of PR statehood

By : KEVIN MEAD

kevin@caribbeanbusinesspr.com; cbprdigital@gmail.com

Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi is pushing for public hearings in Congress on the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) newly released report on the fiscal impact of Puerto Rico statehood on the federal government.

Pierluisi took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday to outline the GAO’s findings and blast commonwealth supporters’ interpretation of the long-awaited analysis.

The 134-page GAO study released this week found that statehood would mean billions of dollars in additional federal funding for Puerto Rico while also boosting Washington’s tax haul by hundreds of millions annually.

The study, “Puerto Rico: Information on How Statehood Would Potentially Affect Selected Federal Programs and Revenue Sources,” includes the budget impacts if Puerto Rico and island residents were treated like the states in more than two dozen federal programs and tax laws.

Pierluisi pointed to the November 2012 status plebiscite in which a majority of voters rejected the current territorial status and then picked statehood as the favored alternative on the two-part ballot.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico’s longstanding economic problems have “devolved into a crisis” over the past year, according to the resident commissioner.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

Mayor From Okinawa to Bring Surprising Message to Washington

wikitravel.org

OPED NEWS.com By David Swanson Imagine if China were stationing large numbers of troops in the United States. Imagine that most of them were based in a small rural county in Mississippi. Imagine -- this shouldn't be hard -- that their presence was problematic, that nations they threatened in Latin America resented the United States' hospitality, and that the communities around the bases resented the noise and pollution and drinking and raping of local girls. Now imagine a proposal by the Chinese government, with support from the federal government in Washington, to build another big new base in that same corner of Mississippi. Imagine the governor of Mississippi supported the base, but just before his reelection pretended to oppose it, and after being reelected went back to supporting it. Imagine that the mayor of the town where the base would be built made opposition to it the entire focus of his reelection campaign and won, with exit polls showing that voters overwhelmingly agreed with him. And imagine that the mayor meant it. Where would your sympathies lie? Would you want anyone in China to hear what that mayor had to say? Sometimes in the United States we forget that there are heavily armed employees of our government permanently stationed in most nations on earth. Sometimes when we remember, we imagine that the other nations must appreciate it. We turn away from the public uproar in the Philippines as the U.S. military tries to return troops to those islands from which they were driven by public pressure. We avoid knowing what anti-U.S. terrorists say motivates them, as if by merely knowing what they say we would be approving of their violence. We manage not to know of the heroic nonviolent struggle underway on Jeju Island, South Korea, as residents try to stop the construction of a new base for the U.S. Navy. We live on oblivious to the massive nonviolent resistance of the people of Vicenza, Italy, who for years voted and demonstrated and lobbied and protested a huge new U.S. Army base that has gone right ahead regardless. Mayor Susumu Inamine of Nago City, Okinawa, (population 61,000) is headed to the United States, where he may have to do a bit of afflicting the comfortable as he tries to comfort the afflicted back home. Okinawa Prefecture has hosted major U.S. military bases for 68 years. Over 73% of the U.S. troop presence in Japan is concentrated in Okinawa, which makes up a mere 0.6% of the Japanese land area. As a result of public protest, one base is being closed -- the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. The U.S. government wants a new Marine base in Nago City. The people of Nago City do not. Inamine was first elected as mayor of Nago City in January 2010 promising to block the new base. He was reelected this past January 19th still promising to block the base. The Japanese government had worked hard to defeat him, but exit polls showed 68% of voters opposing the base, and 27% in favor of it. In February U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy visited Okinawa, where she met with the Governor but declined to meet with the mayor. That's all right. The Mayor can meet with the State Department, the White House, the Pentagon, and the Congress. He'll be in Washington, D.C. in mid-May, where he hopes to appeal directly to the U.S. government and the U.S. public. He...(spoke) at an open, public event at Busboys and Poets restaurant at 14th and V Streets at 6:00 p.m. on May 20th. A great summary of the situation in Okinawa can be found in this statement: "International Scholars, Peace Advocates and Artists Condemn Agreement To Build New U.S. Marine Base in Okinawa." An excerpt: "Not unlike the 20th century U.S. Civil Rights struggle, Okinawans have non-violently pressed for the end to their military colonization. They tried to stop live-fire military drills that threatened their lives by entering the exercise zone in protest; they formed human chains around military bases to express their opposition; and about a hundred thousand people, one tenth of the population have turned out periodically for massive demonstrations. Octogenarians initiated the campaign to prevent the construction of the Henoko base with a sit-in that has been continuing for years. The prefectural assembly passed resolutions to oppose the Henoko base plan. In January 2013, leaders of all the 41 municipalities of Okinawa signed the petition to the government to remove the newly deployed MV-22 Osprey from Futenma base and to give up the plan to build a replacement base in Okinawa." Here's background on the Governor of Okinawa. Here's an organization working to support the will of the public of Okinawa on this issue. And here's a video worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzAw-jOQwME#t=0

Governor’s press release on GAO Report: Puerto Rican Statehood would bring fiscal & economic blow to the Island

Statehood would dramatically weaken Island’s economy, federal budget

Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a study on the effects of Puerto Rican statehood on U.S. federal spending and revenues. The non-partisan report concludes that if Puerto Rico were to become the 51st state, it would cause the loss of tens of thousands of jobs, and would make it difficult for the Commonwealth to balance its budget. In addition, GAO concluded that the imposition of additional federal taxes in Puerto Rico would burden the Island’s residents, as well as harm the economy of both the U.S. and Puerto Rico. 

“The GAO’s findings are very concerning for Puerto Rico, our economy and jobs. The enormous tax burden that Puerto Ricans would be forced to shoulder as a state would be incredibly damaging to our economy, our businesses and the workers on the Island,” said Governor Alejandro García-Padilla. “This report also clearly states that statehood will make it very difficult for the Commonwealth to move its economy forward. Ultimately, statehood is a losing proposition for both Puerto Rico and the U.S. My administration is hard at work continuing our plans to grow the economy, create jobs, reduce crime, and keep our fiscal house in order.”

The report notes that: “according to tax policy experts at the [U.S.] Department of Treasury and the Joint Committee on Taxation, changes in federal income tax requirements under Puerto Rico statehood are likely to motivate some corporations with substantial amounts of income derived from intangibles (and therefore mobile) assets to relocate from Puerto Rico to a lower tax foreign location.” The GAO further states that the possible relocation of these corporations could result in federal revenue gains in the range of negative 0.1 billion to 4.3 billion, which hardly offsets the $5.2 billion in new federal spending under statehood.

While the report finds that Puerto Rican statehood would lead to increased federal funding, the broader implications are that the middle class will be eliminated by the increased tax burden and the loss of manufacturing jobs. And the economy of Puerto Rico will be increasingly dependent on federal transfers.

The GAO report published today comes at a time when Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi have introduced parallel bills in the House and Senate that call for a “yes or no” vote on making Puerto Rico the 51st state, despite the fact that a majority of Puerto Ricans have never voted in favor of statehood. On November 2012, 1.9 million Puerto Ricans voted on the Island’s status, with only 834,191 (44.4 percent) voting for statehood. The Governor has said he supports a fair and inclusive referendum following the guidelines of President Obama’s $2.5 million proposal, which was signed into law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014.

###

Marshall Islands primed for climate fight for survival

RTCC/PACNEWS

From nowhere does the problem of climate change look more desperate than standing on the shores of the Marshall Islands. The tiny coral islands, seemingly idyllic, are slowly sinking into the ocean as sea levels rise. A 1.5C increase in global temperatures could make the islands virtually uninhabitable. So far, the planet has warmed by around 0.8C, and scientists warn that the CO2 already emitted means we’re already locked in for more.

Unsurprisingly, this means the Marshall Islands and other small island states have become some of the most progressive voices within the international negotiations around a treaty intended to limit the reach of climate change.This leaves Marshall Islands foreign minister Tony de Brum, who leads their climate change efforts, with a tough job, pushing for a climate change deal that is far beyond what less vulnerable countries would happily settle for.

“Carbon free should be the ultimate goal of everyone and if we concentrated in developing on that pathway it’s a win-win for all concerned,” he tells RTCC, during a visit to London. He has just come over from Brussels, where he met with EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard, and is about to fly over Abu Dhabi, where he will discuss with other politicians the potential for further pledges at a high-level meeting to be hosted by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in September.

The international climate negotiations may be notoriously tough, but with their target of limiting warming to only 2C, they are not stringent enough for some of the small island states, for whom even a successful treaty poses an existential threat. At present, even this modest 2C level of success is by no means a foregone conclusion; while the Marshall Islands are sinking, big emitters such as the US, India and China remain embroiled in largely ideological battles over who should bear the brunt of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions most and first.

Even if the Marshall Islands went carbon neutral today, it would barely make a dent on combatting climate change, where the impacts bear no relation to where the greenhouse gases are being emitted. In fact, it is usually those who have least contributed to the issue that suffer the most. While the Marshall Islands have a per capita emissions rate of 2 tons of CO2 for their 53,000 population in 2010, compared 17.6 in the US for each of its 317,000,000 inhabitants, they face a perilous future. But although the Marshall Islands are a speck on the map compared to these countries both in terms of size and emissions, their vulnerability means that they punch above their weight when it comes to the negotiations.

“I think that we have enjoyed relatively good rapport with development partners, the big states, the big emitters,” says de Brum. “We try and bring to the table what we consider to be the immediate and longer term concerns of the small islands states and to point out that our ambitions and goals are not that much different from those of the developed countries, that the idea of climate change leadership and working towards sensible climate change policies does not necessarily cancel out development.”

Rather than waiting for the annual UN climate conference to build these bridges, the Marshall Islands have been proactive in getting key players together in order to start forging the common ground that everyone needs to stand on if there is to be any chance of a successful outcome in Paris 2015, when the UN hopes a climate treaty will be struck.

Last year, they hosted the Pacific Islands Forum, where a focus on climate change saw participants sign a ‘Majuro Declaration’, designed to spark “a new wave of climate leadership”, which Marshallese president Christopher Loeak then presented to Ban Ki-moon as a “Pacific gift” at the UN General Assembly. More recently, they hosted the Cartagena Dialogue, bringing together an unusual selection of the global north and south countries with a progressive attitude to tackling climate change.

And Tony de Brum is about to make his way to a meeting of the Major Economies Forum—the second time the Marshall Islands have been invited to participate—which he says is a sign that other major players are starting to realise they play key role in facilitating progressive action. “We view that as America and the other big countries’ recognition of our ability to contribute to that debate and to come up with solutions that can be accepted and promoted by the big states as well,” he says.

He adds: “We also have been able to dialogue directly with the United States and also with Chinese officials throughout the Pacific and have been able to share with them what our concerns are. It seems to us in fact that is taking hold.” The conversations that he has had during his current diplomatic mission have left him feeling hopeful he says, as there seems to be a growing recognition among international leaders of the Marshall Islands’ predicament.

But there is one thing that this trip cannot do, which is allow foreign politicians to witness the destruction facing the Marshall Islands for themselves. “There’s nothing like seeing it,” says de Brum. “Landing on the airstrip in the capital city of Majuro and seeing sandbags on either side of the runway is a message that’s rather too powerful to forget.”

He explains how those who have attended events hosted by the Marshall Islands in recent years have been “awed” by the sight of the disappearing islands—a feeling which has contributed to the success of his meetings with the likes of Connie Hedegaard and UK foreign minister Hugo Swire. “It’s ridiculous the kind of climate displays that are occurring in small island states, but it was a powerful message that we wanted to share with the world, and I think it worked,” he says. “Our job as a bridge between the developed states and the small island vulnerable states is difficult, but it’s something that someone must do.”.

SOURCE: RTCC/PACNEWS

Claims British territory of Diego Garcia was 'used by US as a secret jail

Claims British territory of Diego Garcia was 'used by US as a secret jail to hold terror suspects' puts pressure on Hague

Leaked Senate Committee report says UK knew about CIA 'black jail'

Sources claim 'high-value' terror suspects were held on island

Operation was carried out with 'cull co-operation' of UK government

By MATT CHORLEY, MAILONLINE POLITICAL EDITOR

The British government is under pressure to answer claims it allowed the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia to be used to hold Al Qaeda suspects in a secret jail. A leaked report in the US suggests the CIA held ‘high value’ detainees on the British territory with the ‘full co-operation’ of the UK government. The claims contradict repeated denials that Britain had ever let the US use Diego Garcia for the ‘extraordinary rendition’ of terror suspects.

The British territory of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean was used to hold 'high value' terror suspects in a secret black jail, according to reports in the US. A report by a Senate Intelligence Committee into the CIA’s kidnap and torture is due to be published in weeks.

But sources told Al Jazeera America it includes claims that Britain was aware of the use of Diego Garcia as a secret ‘black jail’.

US President George W Bush confirmed in 2006 that the CIA had operated a network of secret prisons around the world to interrogate terror suspects.

The Senate report claims that ‘the CIA detained some high-value suspects on Diego Garcia, an Indian Ocean island controlled by the United Kingdom and leased to the United States’, Al Jazeera America reported.

‘The classified CIA documents say the black site arrangement at Diego Garcia was made with the “full cooperation” of the British government.’

Foreign Secretary William Hague is under pressure to answer questions raised by the reports

In 2011 ministers denied Diesgo Garcia had been used in this way.

Foreign Office minister David Lidington said: Aside from the two cases of rendition through Diego Garcia in 2002, the US Government has confirmed that there have been no other instances in which US intelligence flights landed in the UK, our Overseas Territories, or the Crown Dependencies, with a detainee, on board since 11 September 2001.’

However, Mr Hague now faces pressure to address the claims which have emerged from the Senate Committee report. Reprieve, a legal charity which represents victims of rendition, has written to Mr Hague demanding an explanation.

Reprieve strategic director, Cori Crider said: ‘We need to know immediately whether ministers misled Parliament over CIA torture on British soil.

‘If the CIA operated a black site on Diego Garcia, then a string of official statements, from both this and the last government, were totally false.

‘Were ministers asleep at the wheel? Or, as the report suggests, have we been lied to for years?

‘The Foreign Secretary must urgently clarify whether the CIA ran a secret prison on Diego Garcia, and whether our clients Abdel-Hakim Belhaj and his wife Fatima Boudchar were among its victims.’

A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘I refer you to statements we’ve made in the past on this issue.’

Women Call For Removal Of Military From Asia-Pacific Region

                                                                       Pacific Scoop

Peace campaigners release WILPF Auckland Declaration

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (Pacific Scoop, April 27, 2014) – Women peace campaigners from Aotearoa, Australia, Hawai’i, Japan, Philippines and Polynesia/Te Ao Maohi have called for the removal of military occupation and bases in the Asia-Pacific region.

Meeting at AUT University in New Zealand, the three-day conference organised by the Aotearoa section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom also called for the removal of military training and promotions that "normalise violence" in schools.

The women campaigners urged that military spending be reallocated to eliminate all forms of violence – domestic, social and military. The WILPF Auckland Declaration said:

* Military occupation and military bases must be removed from the Asia Pacific region.

* A call for the decolonisation and demilitarisation of the Pacific came from women at a regional gathering of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) in Auckland April 25-27.

* Women attended from Rapa, Polynesia/Te Ao Maohi, Japan, the Philippines, Aotearoa, Australia and Hawai’i.

* They also call for the removal of military training and promotion from schools since this normalises violence. Military spending should be reallocated to eliminate all forms of violence: domestic, social and military, to meet human needs.

* People have been dispossessed of their land through military colonial forces and all forms of human rights violations.

* The meeting called for recognition of independent countries [which] are still under colonial military domination.

* "Militarisation in the past has caused the colonisation of countries which are still under domination," said Roti Make from WILPF Polynesia section. She specified Hawai’i under the USA, Rapanui under Chile, French Polynesia/Te Ao Maohi, Kanaky (New Caledonia), Wallis and Futuna annexed under France, and West Papua under Indonesia.

* "We call on the United Nations to accept our identity and recognise us as independent nations," she added.

* The women also called for an end to joint military exercises.

WILPF has its hundredth anniversary in April 2015 and they invite all women in the region to join their call.

The conference was held in partnership with Peace Movement Aotearoa and AUT’s Pacific Media Centre.

Independence supporters in New Caledonia unite for sovereignty

Independence movement launches unity ticket 

       Islands Business

Exclusive story

By Nic Maclellan 

From Paita, New Caledonia

The meeting is supposed to start at 6pm, but the audience drifts in slowly and by 7 o’clock, the customary welcome is underway. The Kanak independence movement is gathering in Paita, a town on the outskirts of the capital Noumea, to rally support for this week’s crucial elections in New Caledonia.

A restricted roll of long-term residents will vote this Sunday 11 May, to choose representatives for three provincial assemblies (in the North, South and Loyalty Islands) and for the national Congress in this French Pacific dependency.

For the first time since 1989, the independence movement is presenting a united ticket in the Southern province, in a bid to gain a majority in New Caledonia’s Congress. The four political parties that make up the Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) have developed a joint list of candidates with other parties that are not formal members of the independence coalition: Parti Travailliste (PT), Dynamique Unitaire Sud (DUS), Libération Kanak Socialiste (LKS) and the local branch of the French Socialist Party.

After 15 years transition under the 1998 Noumea Accord, this week’s vote is important for the future political status of New Caledonia. By 3/5 majority, the incoming Congress can decide to proceed to a referendum on self-determination. If a date is not set, the French State must organise a vote before 2018, although opponents of independence are actively campaigning for alternative scenarios to avoid a popular vote.

Voting is not compulsory under New Caledonia’s electoral system, so it’s important for supporters and opponents of independence to mobilise their base and woo new converts. Around the country, candidates are campaigning: handing out leaflets to potential supporters, using blogs, Youtube and Facebook to reach younger voters, kissing babies in the markets and organising old-style public meetings.

Building a rainbow nation

Last week, around 300 people gathered in Paita’s community hall to meet candidates of the independence movement’s united electoral list. Former political rivals stand together on the stage beneath a giant Kanak flag and a banner with the unity ticket’s slogan: Construisons notre nation arc-en-ciel (Let us build our rainbow nation together).

As the evening progresses, speaker after speaker highlights the imbalance between indigenous Kanaks and the European community which makes up the bulk of the Southern province’s population.

For Marie-Pierre Goyetche of the Parti Travailliste (Labour Party), the issue is employment. Goyetche, President of the USTKE trade union confederation, highlights the need for training for young Kanaks, so they can compete in the jobs market with migrants arriving from France or Wallis and Futuna. For Jean-Pierre Deteix of the Socialist Party, the challenge is housing, with 8000 people living in squatter settlements around Noumea and thousands more seeking adequate public housing. Yvon Faua of the Rassemblement Démocratique Océanien (RDO) talks of education, the challenges for Kanaks and islanders to succeed in the French education system and the importance of the school as a place to develop civic values. Sylvain Pabouty (DUS) and Louis Mapou (Palika) highlight the need for economic development to build an independent nation.

But then Roch Wamytan takes to the stage. Wamytan heads the rainbow electoral ticket, as a high chief from Saint Louis, a former President of the FLNKS, a past chair of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and currently Speaker of New Caledonia’s outgoing Congress.

The veteran Kanak leader calls on the audience to rally their friends, family and neighbours to vote next Sunday, 11 May.

“Our opponents always forget their history,” he says. “But these elections are part of the long struggle of the Kanak people to determine the future of our nation, our rainbow nation, and to develop as a sovereign country.”

Unity in the South

On 11 May, a restricted electorate of long-term residents will vote for 76 members in three provincial assemblies, with 40 seats in the South, 22 in the North and 14 in the outlying Loyalty Islands. A proportion of these assembly representatives (32 from the South, 15 from the North and 7 from the islands) make up the 54-member Congress. 

At their first meeting a week after the election, members of Congress choose the 11-member Government of New Caledonia, who then select the President and Vice President of the country. Only groups with six or more members (11 per cent of the Congress) can gain seats in the multi-party government.

After generations of settlement and ongoing immigration, the Southern province is a bastion of anti-independence sentiment, long dominated by conservative parties loyal to France. European and immigrant Wallisian voters hold sway in the province, while the indigenous Kanak population (who largely support independence) dominate in the rural provinces.

This year, however, the Right is divided between competing parties, uncertain about the future, and the FLNKS hopes to seize the moment.

In the North and Loyalty Islands, the major independence parties Union Calédonienne (UC), Parti de Libération Kanak (Palika) and Parti Travailliste (PT) are running their own tickets, competing to gain a majority in the provincial assemblies. 

However, the independence movement has learnt from bitter experience that disunity in the European-dominated South can lead to defeat. To gain a seat, an electoral list must win enough votes to reach the threshold of five per cent of registered voters in the province. In 2004, there were so many pro-independence electoral lists that none of them reached the five per cent barrier. For five years, the Southern assembly had no dissenting voices from the independence movement. At the last elections in 2009, there were three different tickets and only four pro-independence representatives were elected to the 40-member Southern assembly.

In December 2013, the FLNKS Congress in Poya reaffirmed that there should be a united independence ticket in the Southern province. There was common agreement that the head of the list should be Roch Wamytan of Union Calédonienne (the largest party in the FLNKS). 

Beyond agreement on the head of the list however, there were months of hard bargaining to determine the order for the remaining candidates. With eight parties in the unity process, there was competition for the top spots that would ensure election to the Congress as well as debate over the manifesto to present to voters. 

The negotiations were also complicated by the requirement under France’s parity law that electoral lists include equal representation of men and women (the alternate listing of male and female candidates ensures that more than 40 per cent of New Caledonia’s Congress and assemblies are made up of women, a sharp contrast to most Melanesian parliaments where women are rarely represented in the legislature).

Mobilising the vote

Last March, supporters of independence launched a joint ticket for New Caledonia’s municipal elections under the banner of the Mouvement Nationaliste Unitaire (MNU). Although they could not defeat the anti-independence parties that dominate town hall politics in Noumea and surrounding towns like Paita, Mont Dore and Dumbea, the increased vote for the MNU gave heart to the independence movement for this month’s provincial elections.

In the 2009 Congress, supporters of independence held 23 seats in the 54-member legislature. To win just four more seats would bring the tally to 27-27. With five extra seats in the Congress, the FLNKS and its allies would hold the narrowest of majorities and could nominate the first pro-independence President of the country.

Yvon Faua of the RDO told Islands Business: “At the last elections, we held four seats in the South. In this month’s vote, we are hoping to double that representation and maybe even gain a majority in the Congress for the first time. But we must persuade young voters to look to their future.”

After mobilising their forces for the traditional May Day rally in Noumea last Thursday, the FLNKS will hold further public meetings in Mont Dore and Rivière Salée this week to bring out the vote. 

But with less than a week till the elections, there’s still a long way to go. It’s a difficult challenge to win a congressional majority: the independence movement must win a clean sweep in the Loyalty Islands, hold their ground in the Northern Province against a divided loyalist movement and successfully mobilise voters to take on the five anti-independence lists in the South. The RDO is reaching out to the large Wallisian and Tahitian communities in the South, but these Islander voters have long supported parties loyal to France, fearful of their status in an independent Kanaky.

This week is the 25th anniversary of the death of Kanak independence leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou on 4 May 1989. Tjibaou’s vision of an independent Kanaky still inspires the movement, even as the challenges of building a new nation remain.

(Part two of Nic Maclellan’s report will look at the loyalist parties in New Caledonia).

United Nations sends mission to New Caledonia

en.wikipedia.org

Islands Business

By Nic Maclellan

The United Nations has sent a delegation to New Caledonia in the lead up to crucial municipal and provincial elections as supporters and opponents of independence joust over who should have the right to vote.

The UN delegation arrived in New Caledonia in March in the midst of the electoral campaign for local town councils. The visit also coincided with the arrival of French judges charged with updating the electoral rolls for national elections to be held on 11 May.

According to a UN statement, the objective of the visit is to monitor “New Caledonia’s provincial electoral process, especially the technical issues related to the electoral lists for the provincial elections in May, as well as to uphold the spirit and letter of the 1998 Noumea Accord in this process.”

New Caledonia was relisted with the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation in 1986, and since that time the UN has maintained a watching brief over progress towards a referendum on self-determination in the French Pacific dependency.

As Islands Business magazine goes to press, voters in New Caledonia are awaiting the results of two rounds of voting in municipal elections held on 23 and 30 March.

The final results will give an indication of the balance of forces within and between political camps. A good result in the municipal elections will also provide momentum for political parties as they campaign for elections in May for New Caledonia’s three provincial assemblies and national Congress.

This year’s election is the culmination of a long transition under the Noumea Accord - if the incoming Congress agrees by 3/5 majority, the country can proceed to a vote on New Caledonia’s final political status. After 15 years of collegial government, relations between leading political figures have begun to fray in the lead up to the crucial vote.

United Nations scrutiny

The United Nations delegation was led by Amadu Koroma of Sierra Leone, vice president of the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation, joined by representatives from Ecuador, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, together with UN decolonisation experts and officials.

The two Pacific nations are both members of the UN decolonisation committee. Papua New Guinea’s UN ambassador Robert Aisi, chair of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) group, was joined in New Caledonia by Esala Nayasi, political director at the Fijian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

While the visit was approved by the French Government, local anti-independence parties soon made it clear that they did not support the UN involvement in New Caledonian affairs. The Union pour une Calédonie dans la France, which unites some parties loyal to France, stated: “We state that the Union for New Caledonia within France does not support this visit… This visit brings with it tension and confusion, at a time we have need of clarity and serenity.” 

Philippe Gomes, leader of the anti-independence Calédonie Ensemble (CE), attacked the presence of a Fijian representative in the UN delegation. In a similar gesture to the one he made before the 2013 Melanesian Spearhead Group summit in New Caledonia, Gomes wrote to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius criticising Fiji as a “military dictatorship” that should not “interfere in the affairs of a democratic country.”

The UN mission met with political and community leaders, the Kanak Customary Senate and provincial authorities. It will present its report to a regional seminar of the UN Special Committee, to be held in Fiji in May, and the next formal meeting of the committee in New York.

Municipal elections

The municipal elections have brought new faces to local politics. Long-serving Mayor of Noumea Jean Leques announced last year that he would not re-contest his position on the capital city’s town council. Leques, an 82-year-old veteran of anti-independence politics, was first elected mayor in 1986 at the height of armed conflict between supporters and opponents of independence. From 1999, he also served as the President of New Caledonia for two years, following the first elections held after the signing of the Noumea Accord.

In a city where the majority of voters are of European heritage and oppose independence from France, there is a fierce competition for the top job between three anti-independence parties: Calédonie Ensemble (CE) led by Philippe Gomes; Rassemblement UMP (RUMP) led by Pierre Frogier, and the breakaway party Mouvement Populaire Calédonien (MPC) led by Gael Yanno.

Yanno, a former deputy mayor in Noumea, left the largest conservative party RUMP last year and established his own group after falling out with RUMP leader Pierre Frogier. Yanno is seeking to rally conservative French voters, criticising RUMP’s policies and Frogier’s attempts to build links with Union Calédonienne (UC), the largest pro-independence party in the country. RUMP has lost some support from European voters after it backed independence leader Roch Wamytan to be Speaker of New Caledonia’s Congress and endorsed the policy of flying two flags - the French tricolour and the flag of Kanaky - outside public buildings. 

In a pre-election coup, Yanno persuaded the conservative UMP party in France to formally endorse his breakaway group rather than the larger RUMP, to the annoyance of RUMP mayoral candidate Jean-Claude Briault. Another leading RUMP politician, Pierre Bretegnier, also defected to the MPC in the middle of the municipal election campaign.

The other leading candidate for Mayor of Noumea is Sonia Lagarde of the Calédonie Ensemble party. As well as serving in New Caledonia’s Congress, Lagarde is also deputy in France’s National Assembly in Paris, after defeating the long-standing RUMP representative in 2012 elections. 

For the municipal vote in the southern province, much of the independence movement has launched the Mouvement Nationaliste Unitaire (MNU) led by Jean-Raymond Postic. This is a united list that includes activists from a range of pro-independence forces: FLNKS members (UC, UPM and RDO) together with parties that support independence but are not formal members of the independence coalition: Libération Kanak Socialiste (LKS); Dynamik Unitaire Sud (DUS) and Parti Travailliste (PT).

This effort at unity has been undercut by a separate initiative led by Marie Claude Tjibaou, the widow of assassinated Kanak leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou. Her Ouverture Citoyenne (OC) has been widely criticised in the independence movement, with PT President Louis Kotra Uregei suggesting it is a deliberate attempt by the French state to disrupt efforts to build a common pro-independence platform: “Instead of having united pro-independence lists in the South, as it is necessary to prepare for the provincial elections in May, we see once again an Ouverture Citoyenne ticket, as happened in 2009. This list includes the League for Human Rights and the French Socialist Party, which does not support independence for this country - so we ask what are they doing there?” 

This effort by the MNU to unite independence supporters in Noumea has been replicated in nine other municipalities across the country such as the northern town of Hienghene where UC President Daniel Goa is leading a united FLNKS ticket. 

But in other areas in the Northern Province and the outlying Loyalty Islands where Kanaks are the overwhelming majority of the population, each different independence party is running its own list. On the island of Mare there are seven different tickets, while in other municipal battles, the Union Caledonienne (UC), the Party of Kanak Liberation (Palika) and the Parti Travailliste (PT) are all running their own tickets, seeking a majority on municipal councils. An FLNKS Congress in January called for competing parties to unite if there is a second round run-off against anti-independence forces.

While the municipal elections were focussed on urban issues, the social gulf between Kanaks and Europeans in Noumea raised broader tensions. CE’s Sonia Lagarde is mobilising support amongst French voters in the city by highlighting issues of security and youth delinquency, focussing attention on the many young, unemployed Kanaks who have moved to the capital looking for education, employment or enjoyment.

In contrast, the MNU electoral statement said: “There are great disparities between the northern and southern suburbs in Noumea. It is vital that we overcome the gap in public infrastructure in the northern suburbs, as well as improving the quality of life of all inhabitants so they can be proud of belonging to the same city.”

For the pro-independence MNU, town councils must work directly with the young: “This population is too often neglected. We must put together the equivalent of a Marshall Plan to help them avoid idleness and living on the edge. This plan would involve a policy of popular education, developing places to support them to provide activities for their spare time, artistic and cultural expression and professional training.”

Different voting rolls

Beyond the basics of housing, public transport, social services and jobs, the campaign for the municipal elections was intensely political, with competing parties seeing the town halls as a springboard for the vote next May to elect provincial assemblies and the national Congress. 

Because voting is not compulsory in New Caledonia, it is vital to mobilise uncommitted voters. But the electorate for the municipal vote in March is not exactly the same as the national poll on 11 May. 

New Caledonia’s voting system is different for local, provincial, national and European elections. All French nationals of voting age who register at the local town hall are eligible to vote in the March municipal elections, as well as elections for the National Assembly and Senate in France and European parliament. 

However under the 1998 Noumea Accord, voting for May’s crucial elections for the three provincial assemblies and the Congress is restricted to a limited electoral roll of New Caledonian citizens, rather than all French nationals. This special electoral roll for the local institutions is restricted to those who meet residency criteria set out in the Noumea Accord, a policy confirmed by a joint sitting of the French parliament in 2007. 

At the last Congressional elections in 2009, some 18,230 people resident in New Caledonia —11.8 per cent of the normal electoral roll — could not vote in that year’s elections for the local institutions. These were mainly French public servants, soldiers and short term contract workers who have travelled from Europe to the Pacific, but do not see New Caledonia as their home. In contrast, the independence movement has recognised since 1983 that the so-called “victims of history” - the descendants of the convicts, soldiers and farmers who arrived in New Caledonia in colonial days - were welcome in the country “to build a common destiny.”