Manuel Valls has extended his stay in New Caledonia as he seeks to rally support for the Bougival agreement amid political divisions and a struggling health system.
France’s Overseas Minister, Manuel Valls, will extend his stay in New Caledonia until Monday, when he is set to once again bring together supporters of the Bougival agreement on the future of the archipelago, his office confirmed on Friday, following comments he made to local daily Les Nouvelles calédoniennes.
“We will hold a third meeting of the drafting committee on Monday morning, which will give me the chance to meet more people, to reaffirm my deep commitment to New Caledonia and, of course, to press ahead with the implementation of the Bougival agreement,” Valls told the paper.
The former prime minister, who arrived in the Pacific territory on Wednesday, had originally been due to return to mainland France on Saturday.
Valls presses case for independence deal in tense New Caledonia talks
Independence Front shuns meetings
The process has, however, been complicated by the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), which has chosen not to take part in the drafting committee.
The committee’s role is to transform the Bougival agreement – signed on 12 July in the Paris region – into a constitutional bill.
That deal, endorsed at the time by the Overseas Minister, independence leaders and non-independence parties alike, proposed that New Caledonia be recognised as a distinct State within the French constitution, with its own Caledonian nationality.
While the FLNKS grassroots later rejected the accord, all other political forces in the territory have stood by it and continue to participate in the drafting process.
The Front declined to attend Thursday’s first meeting of the committee, which is scheduled to gather again on Saturday.
Valls heads to New Caledonia in wake of collapse of independence deal
Valls unveils health measures
Earlier on Friday, Valls also announced a raft of measures aimed at revitalising the health sector, which has been under severe strain since the 2024 riots.
Triggered by proposed electoral reforms, the unrest left 14 people dead and caused damage estimated at more than €2 billion.
In the north, two local hospitals were forced to shut due to staff shortages. In May, a man tragically died outside Koumac hospital, after relatives had taken him there despite its closure.
Facilities that remain open are struggling to cope. The Bourail medical-social centre in the north of South Province, for example, has seen patient numbers jump by 30 percent in the space of a year, according to provincial health authorities.
To help plug the gaps, Valls announced the deployment of a mobile medical team in partnership with the Order of Malta.
The unit – comprising three doctors, a dentist and a midwife – will serve the hardest-hit areas suffering from a lack of healthcare professionals. The €1.4 million scheme will be fully funded by the French state.
