Valls began serving on the role in December 2024 under the previous François Bayrou government. Photo: AFP / Delphine Mayeur
French Prime Minister has reappointed Manuel Valls as the Minister for Overseas, in response to a request from a majority of leaders from the French Overseas territories, including those in the Pacific.
Sébastien Lecornu, 39, unveiled his new cabinet on Sunday night (Paris time), almost one month after his appointment on 9 September.
Valls began serving on the role in December 2024 under the previous François Bayrou government.
Other key portfolios led by Bayrou remain unchanged. These are Elisabeth Borne (education), Gérald Darmanin (justice) and Bruno Retailleau (home affairs).
Lecornu is expected to announce another batch of ministers in his new cabinet sometime this week after he delivers his traditional general policy address before parliament on Tuesday.
Leaders in France's overseas territories said Valls had over the past nine months initiated and launched a number of projects, most of them still being underway.
The most sensitive project directly concerns New Caledonia, where initial reactions to Lecornu's appointment as PM triggered mixed reactions.
Lecornu was appointed after his predecessor Bayrou was toppled in a parliament motion of defiance on 8 September.
Since then, he has been engaged in tense negotiations with parties represented at the French Parliament, which is more divided than ever.
Lecornu is no stranger to New Caledonia. As a former Minister for Overseas (2020-2022), at a crucial time in the French Pacific territory's recent history, he was in charge of matters related to a series of three self-determination referendums held between 2018 and 2021.
Lecornu decided to maintain the third referendum which took place on 12 December 2021 at a time when New Caledonia was gripped by a spate of Covid-19 epidemic there. The referendum was largely boycotted by the pro-independence indigenous movement.
After the three referendums - all resulting in a rejection of independence for New Caledonia - Lecornu attempted to bring all political parties around the same table to try and define a new political status and future roadmap for New Caledonia, but to no avail.
Since his appointment, Valls managed to restore dialogue and political talks between parties (pro-France and pro-independence) across New Caledonia's political chessboard.
This resulted in the signing of a document dubbed the "Bougival" agreement, to sketch a new political status for New Caledonia, including the denomination of "State of New Caledonia", a dual France-New Caledonia nationality and a transfer of key powers (such as Foreign Affairs) from France to its Pacific territory.
However, even though it had initially signed the document on 12 July, one of the main components of the pro-independence movement, the FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) later denounced the agreement and the signature of its negotiators.
The FLNKS said the deal was in contradiction with the movement's goals, a "lure of independence" and did not reflect the party's struggle for short-term full sovereignty.
The Bougival deal is now entering some of its implementation phases, including an endorsement by the French Cabinet and a vote by both Houses of Parliament before the end of 2025.
The implementation includes a constitutional amendment and the postponement of local provincial elections (already postponed to end of November 2025) to mid-2026.
On 15 September, New Caledonia's Congress endorsed the postponement of crucial provincial elections, despite the opposition from the FLNKS party.
The postponement is scheduled to be tabled before the Senate this week and later before the Lower House, the French national Assembly.
And a referendum is to be held no later than 28 February 2026 for eligible New Caledonians to pronounce themselves on the Bougival deal.
Meanwhile, the Bougival text was published at the French Republic's Official Gazette on 6 September.
