"I think everyone understands that given the context, the priority must be given to restoring public order and then to appeasement," declared Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra to the press, on the sidelines of the Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Fencing World Cup, near Paris. "Priority to the security of the population, priority to the return of calm and priority to the political appeasement of the situation," said the French minister, while violence linked to riots in New Caledonia, a French archipelago in the South Pacific, continued on Monday with a sixth death in six days, according to the authorities, and a situation "far from returning to calm", according to the mayor of Nouméa. On Friday, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the cancellation of the Olympic torch relay on the archipelago during a meeting with deputies at Matignon, according to several concordant sources cited by the French news agency AFP. The Olympic flame arrived with great pomp on May 8 in Marseille, aboard the Belem ship, and was to cross the entire French territory, including the French overseas territories, to end its journey on the banks of the Seine on July 26, where it will light the cauldron at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the third Olympics in the French capital, after those of 1900 and 1924. "Everyone understands, we would have liked to be able to share this moment", even if "by June 11, there could be favourable developments" in New Caledonia, said Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, in charge of preparing for the Paris Olympics, referring to the logistical and security difficulties. "To be ready on June 11 [for the passage of the Olympic flame in New Caledonia], there is a whole countdown and reconnaissance, verification and sorting operations that must be carried out. And the security forces, the military, are currently busy restoring calm, restoring order" in the territory, said the French Minister of Sports. These riots, the most serious recorded in New Caledonia since the 1980s, were triggered by an electoral reform promoted by Paris, which modifies the electoral roll, reducing the weight of the indigenous people, which angered the independentists. For decades, there have been tensions on the archipelago between the indigenous Kanaks, who want independence, and the descendants of the colonizers, who want to remain part of France. On Wednesday, the National Assembly adopted a bill which, among other changes, allows residents of New Caledonia for ten years to vote in provincial elections. Opponents say the move will benefit pro-French politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalize the indigenous Kanak people, who have historically been subjected to a policy of strict segregation and widespread discrimination. Located east of Australia and ten time zones ahead of Paris, the vast archipelago, which currently has around 270,000 inhabitants, became French in 1853, under the command of Emperor Napoleon III, nephew and heir of Napoleon. It became an overseas territory of France after the Second World War, with French nationality being granted to all Kanaks in 1957. In 1988, a peace agreement was signed between the rival factions. A decade later, France promised to give New Caledonia political power and broad autonomy and to organize up to three successive referendums. The three referendums were held between 2018 and 2021, and a majority of voters chose to remain part of France, rather than supporting independence. The pro-independence Kanak people rejected the results of the last referendum in 2021, which they boycotted because it was held at the height of the covid-19 pandemic. Read Also: Ricardo Horta falls in the FC Porto area and asks for a penalty. Nuno Almeida ignores (Portuguese version)