The authorities in New Caledonia, a semiautonomous French territory in the South Pacific, put a curfew in place on Tuesday and banned all public gatherings after protests against a proposed constitutional change turned violent overnight.
France’s High Commission of the Republic in New Caledonia announced on Tuesday that a “massive mobilization” of security and defense forces has been sent to quell the protests.
In addition, a curfew was imposed in the capital, Noumea, for Tuesday night, and all public gatherings were banned along with the sale of alcohol and the transportation of weapons, the High Commission said.
The latest protests started on Monday, before a scheduled Tuesday vote in the French Parliament on a change to New Caledonia’s Constitution that would expand French citizens’ eligibility to vote in provincial elections.
Some pro-independence activists in the territory fear the amendment would water down their movement.
Organizations:
High Commission
Locations:
New Caledonia, South, France’s, Republic, Noumea